The Stroke of a Key
by Reader101w
Summary: What would have happened if Kim had not received that first mission?
1. Bottlenecks in time

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Special thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter and providing me with great suggestions.

* * *

**Prologue: Bottlenecks in time**

The Sloth soared through the sky on autopilot, its occupants too busy with sharing many kisses to pay attention to where they were going. It was a good thing that the sky was pretty much empty and the autopilot system well-equipped.

"Wow." It wasn't entirely clear if Ron meant the latest kiss or what had happened to them over the past 24 hours.

Kim smiled. "We did it. We graduated. We won against the Lowardians. _We're_ going to get a future together."

"Yeah," Ron said with a dreamy grin; he still didn't understand how he felt so relaxed now while he was completely panicking about his future with Kim only a couple of hours earlier.

"You know, when I think back, this was one crazy time, don't you think?" Kim asked, as much in thought for herself as to get Ron's brain to reboot.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Aliens bound on revenge, supervillains helping on the good side…"

"That too, but I meant our whole life… I mean, to think this whole thing started with an accidental hit on my site," Kim said.

"Oh, yeah." Ron thought for a moment. "What do you think would have happened if we never got that first mission?"

* * *

_History has many bottlenecks that we can only see in retrospect. Some are narrow enough to enable the wing flap of a butterfly to cause a storm when events are stacked like dominos._

_One of these occurrences happened when the stroke of a key was all that was needed to change history._

* * *

Mr. McHenry did everything he could to prevent shivering, because doing so would spell disaster.

Mere moments ago he had typed a request for an immediate rescue by Team Impossible, and now all he could do was wait.

He had nearly typed the wrong address when he had accidentally hit the 'K' and the 'I' at the same time, but he had managed to correct that.

"Hurry up Team Impossible…"

* * *

Bonnie bit off her pencil in shock when 'Tin Teeth' flawlessly worked her way through the brunette's impossible routine. Heather and Tara, on the other hand, gave the – obvious – new member of the cheer squad a standing ovation.

"Fine," Bonnie growled, "You made the squad… barely."

"Yes!" Kim cried out happily, and at the same moment Ron burst into the gym.

"Kim, I'm sorry I'm late! Did I miss the routine?"

Kim smiled at her best friend. "It was no big; it went perfect, just like the practice round I showed you yesterday." Then she turned back to her new teammates. "So, we're ready for practice?"

Before Bonnie or either of the other girls could reply, the door to the gym opened again and Julie, one of the senior cheerleaders, walked in.

She smiled encouragingly at Kim. "Wow, you are really enthusiastic. You must be the new cheerleader applicant. Kim Possible, right? Well, we'll see how you perform during practice then, okay?"

Kim looked at the other girl in confusion. "But I just did the routine that Bonnie gave me to audition for the squad."

Julie glared at Bonnie, who suddenly seemed to be looking everywhere but at Kim or Julie.

"What routine?" Julie asked.

Kim handed her the sheet that Bonnie had given her two days ago. She had really worked hard to get it right in such a short time. And the face Julie made while reading it made her fear her new position in the squad. "If this wasn't good, I can do better. Just give me a little time to get familiarized with the new routine, or the choreography if it's a group routine."

This time Julie looked astonished. "You applied two days ago, and you got this down in such a short time?" She turned to Heather and Tara. "How did she do?"

"Perfect score," the girls exclaimed in unison.

"I see…" Julie turned to face both Kim and Bonnie. "Kim, I think you will make the squad. Bonnie, let's have a word in the locker room, okay?"

As Julie and Bonnie walked off, the latter looking really nervous, Kim looked questioningly at Tara and Heather. But they shrugged, equally confused.

Ron, on the other hand, had taken his place on a bench and was waving a little flag. "Go KP!"

* * *

"Bonnie, what were you _thinking_? That you were the cheerleader _captain_?"

Bonnie refused to look at Julie, who _was_ the cheer squad captain.

Julie sighed. "Look, I know you are very competitive, especially when it comes to your sisters. And I know how they are, believe me, I share most of my classes with them. But you can't act like the captain after being on the squad for less than a month."

Bonnie muttered something under her breath that sounded to Julie like a very reluctant apology of sorts.

"I know that most of the new squad members are your old school friends, and they do see you as their leader. But I won't have you become a dictator in the team. If you want to become captain eventually, you better start behaving like one."

"Well, she thinks she can just get in anywhere because she's smart and athletic!" Bonnie snapped. "She's already on the swim team, and signing up for every committee there is. It's not fair."

Julie did remember hearing some rumors about Kim Possible trying to join pretty much everything she could, and apparently some bets were going on, speculating when the ambitious freshman would crack.

"Look, I know it can seem unfair when someone seems to breeze through life, but do you really think Kim gets by effortlessly? Because from what I heard, she really pushes herself to the limit."

Bonnie merely muttered something again.

"Okay, look." Julie was getting a bit annoyed with the brunette. "Do you think you are a better cheerleader than Kim? Then prove it! Show your every effort in practice and in performance to succeed instead of trying to knock out the competition. If you really want to become better than your sisters, show them that you can be the best cheerleader in the freshman squad."

Julie suppressed a smile when she finally got through to Bonnie; this might not have been the best way to coach a freshman, but it was certain to generate some healthy competition that would give a much-needed boost to the Middleton cheer squad.

"_Just as long as it stays healthy," _the senior cheerleader mused as she and Bonnie walked back into the gym to start practice.

* * *

"In other news: Team Impossible, great heroes or common thieves?"

Kim sat on the couch, watching the evening news with her parents. Apparently Mr. Paisley, a millionaire from Upperton and an enthusiastic Cuddle Buddy collector, had been trapped in his own recently installed and absurdly dangerous security system. Team Impossible had come to the rescue, but during their effort they had destroyed a huge part of Mr. Paisley's mansion and some of his Cuddle Buddies. Despite that they still demanded an extravagant payment.

"Even though Mr. Paisley has agreed to pay the hefty sum that Team Impossible demanded, Mr. McHenry, who installed the system, has taken steps to expose Team Impossible's business."

"This will just be two huge corporations fighting it out against each other," Mr. Dr. Possible, Kim's father, said.

Kim shook her head. "I can't believe they demanded money before they rescued Mr. Paisley! It's just wrong."

Mr. Dr. Possible smiled. "That's my girl."

"Kimmie, you haven't actually told us how your cheerleading audition went," Kim's mother said. "You told us you probably got the spot, but you never told us whether your practice worked out."

Kim had pulled out all the stops in practice for the daunting routine that Bonnie had given her, making her parents fear for their daughter's health some times.

Fortunately, Ron had been devotedly attending all of Kim's practicing runs and had never failed to stand by with a towel or water bottle and had, on Mrs. Dr. Possible's insistence, made sure that Kim took enough breaks in between runs.

"The routine went perfect," Kim said proudly, "but apparently Bonnie was not entitled to do the audition… I don't really get her. I mean, we didn't share classes in middle school but I don't remember her being like that."

"Sometimes people change when they get older," Kim's mother said, "You will have to deal with it."

"Well, I don't want to change into that," Kim stated. And looking at the news feed again, she added, "And I don't want to change into them either."

Her parents just chuckled at the comment, but for a moment they got a strange feeling of déjà vu, as if what had happened to Mr. Paisley could have gone very different.

* * *

Amy Hall, also called DNAmy by her colleagues because of her bizarre interest in joining species of animals in accordance to her Cuddle Buddy collection, sat anxiously waiting for the auction to start.

Because of the huge payment to Team Impossible and the devastating damage the team of heroes had done to his home, Mr. Paisley had been forced to sell some of his more rare Cuddle Buddies, including a flamingoat, one of the two he owned out of ten existing in the entire world.

Amy wanted to have that Cuddle Buddy.

Most of the other possible buyers were not real collectors, at least in Amy's eyes, but merely people who wanted to have a valuable item either to show off or to sell for an even higher price.

DNAmy had always respected Mr. Paisley. Like her, the ex-millionaire really loved his Cuddle Buddies and wasn't shy of hugging them, even if that could mean lowering their value.

However, when it was finally the flamingoat's turn in the auction, Amy quickly found out that she was horribly outmatched.

But she still wanted that Cuddle Buddy. The heavyset woman thought frantically of what to do, and then she remembered some guy named Hench who had tried to buy her equipment, most of which she had concocted herself. He had been willing to pay immediately, and that was something Amy really needed right now.

And so it came to be that two calls, one to Jack Hench and one to Amy's somewhat shady bank to get a second mortgage ended what could have possibly led to the joining of a whole range of different animals.

When Amy walked out of the auction hall she was a happy woman; she may have been broke and in debt for the rest of her life, but she had the one thing she wanted most. Nothing could change that.

* * *

"Gone for a few days. Out buying a flamingoat," Montgomery Fiske, English lord and world-famous archaeologist, read. Accompanying the note was a crude drawing of said Cuddle Buddy.

Fiske knew about Amy Hall's obsession with Cuddle Buddies; she talked enough about them during their phone conversations. But the fact that she canceled their first real appointment without notifying him was highly annoying.

"I do hope you find your stuffed plush more interesting than my money then," Fiske growled as he turned around and walked away from the almost childish looking house.

Being still quite upset when he arrived at his hotel room, Monty decided to use one of the many meditation techniques that he had obtained during his training in Tai Ching Pek Kwar, or monkey kung fu.

One of the more successful meditation techniques was expressing your goals and problems out loud. Hearing your own words often helped to make sense of them.

Monty sat down with his legs crossed and took a deep breath. "My goal to become the ultimate monkey master is slightly delayed because the woman who was supposed to change my hands and feet to those of a monkey felt that an addition to her Cuddle Buddy collection was more important than money in amounts equaling my entire family fortune."

Fiske frowned. That didn't make sense at all. The technique had only revealed the nonsense of it. He clearly needed another person's viewpoint, and there was only one person he trusted enough to discuss his problem.

Amy would have to wait… if she actually showed up, that was.

* * *

"You are back early milord," Bates, Monty Fiske's butler, said. "Did something go wrong?"

Fiske seemed much more pulled together than Bates had seen him in a long time. "You could say that… Bates, tell me honestly, do you think I'm crazy?"

"Milord… I…" To say Bates was taken aback was an understatement.

"Don't worry, I promise I will not hold against you whatever you say to me in the next few minutes," Monty said, "do you think I'm crazy for following the path to become the ultimate monkey master, and for trying spend my entire family fortune to change my hands and feet into monkey hands and feet?"

Despite the permission to speak freely, Bates could not help maintaining polite wording. "Milord, I have served you for a long time, and your father before you. And while I admire your drive to examine the somewhat strange cult around Tai Ching Pek Kwar, I do think your behavior is bordering on obsession, if you don't mind me saying so. Also, I doubt this will do much good to your status in the world of archeology."

Fiske simply nodded. "Thank you… I will need to contemplate on this. I'll be in the hidden chamber adjoining to the main living room. You are free for the rest of the day. Don't trouble yourself over making dinner for tonight."

As Fiske walked away, Bates couldn't help but notice that some of the strain that had been building for over a year seemed to have dissipated from his master.

* * *

_And so ends our introduction to a different universe; Some things changed only slightly, while others changed in a more profound way. But all changes contribute to the further drifting apart of two possibilities._

_Although some things tend not to change._

* * *

**A/N:** How did you like this intro? I've got more on the way, but reviews and suggestions are always welcome.


	2. Kim Possible, Middleton's hero

Thanks everyone for reviewing.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Special thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Kim Possible, Middleton's hero**

"Come here Mr. Fluffykins. Don't worry, I'll get you down… again."

Kim carefully ascended the next branch of the tree which Mrs. Feeny's cat had climbed into once again.

"Be careful," Mrs. Feeny called from the ground, "Mr. Fluffykins can be a bit grumpy right after dinner."

"If it had been right before dinner, Mr. Fluffykins would have gotten down by himself," Kim muttered low enough not to be heard.

"Come on KP, you're the best cat rescuer in the neighborhood," Ron shouted from the ground, "You can do it."

Kim had to smile; who could deny rescuing a cat with that kind of support?

Carefully putting her weight on the next branch, Kim inched her way toward the cat.

However, just when she was about to reach Mr. Fluffykins, the cat decided it did not want to be rescued and jumped down, right on Ron's head.

"YAAAH, it's on me!" Ron immediately began to run around in circles, but the cat easily jumped off and ran into Mrs. Feeny's house.

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Feeny said before heading inside herself as well. "Also on behalf of Mr. Fluffykins."

Kim sighed. "Oh well." She tried to turn around to climb back out of the tree.

It was then that she noticed smoke coming through the roof of the house across the street.

Eyes wide, Kim looked down to Ron, who was still trying to get his hair back to normal. "Call 911! I think the house across the street is on fire!"

Ron stared at her for a moment, but seeing the look in her eyes he immediately went into action; he ran to Mrs. Feeny's house and began pounding on the door.

Meanwhile, Kim did her best to get out of the tree as fast as she could.

Just as she slid backwards to the trunk of the tree, Kim looked at the house again. It seemed normal if not for the almost invisible trail of smoke pouring out between the roof tiles. But then Kim managed to look through the attic window and she could clearly see smoke hanging, and maybe even the glare of flames.

Her heart almost stopped when she saw the form of a small child running past behind the window.

* * *

The moment she saw the child, a part of Kim stopped thinking and an instinct she didn't know she had took over.

Without hesitation, Kim swung down the tree branches in a series of moves that would make Bonnie turn green with envy. She had barely touched the ground when she started a sprint toward the other house.

The redhead pounded on the door and rang the doorbell frantically, but there was no reaction.

Kim was just considering throwing a rock through the window when a neighbor opened their door. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"There is a fire in the house!" Kim said in a frantic voice. "And there is someone inside!"

"What? Are you sure?" The man grabbed the spare key for his neighbor's house anyway.

A few seconds – that seemed like hours to Kim – later, he opened the door and Kim's suspicion was confirmed; a wave of heat rolled in their direction and they could see flames in the staircase. It made Kim wonder how this fire could have raged without anyone noticing.

There was a woman lying unconsciously at the base of the stairs. It seemed she had fallen down them.

"Meggy…" the man gasped before he turned to Kim. "Was it her you saw?"

"No, I saw a child, four or five years old I think," Kim replied.

"That's Joey… where did you see him?"

"I saw him through the attic window." Kim pointed up and then looked up the stairwell. "We have to get there."

The neighbor shook his head as he grabbed for the phone. "No, you'll never get up there with the staircase on fire… hello? I'd like to report a fire at 45 Lincoln Street… yes, that's correct… There is someone upstairs… yes…" he turned to Kim while holding on to the phone. "Someone already called them, the firemen should be here in a few minutes."

Kim nodded. "Ron called…" she replied. But within five seconds, she began to look worried again. "A few minutes may be too long… we've got to do something."

"Listen…"

"Kim."

"Listen Kim, you can't risk your own life to save Joey. It will only result in another person who has to be rescued. Let the firemen handle this!"

But then they heard a weak scream for help from upstairs and the feeling that Kim had when she was in the tree boiled back up. "We have to act now…"

As the adrenaline rushed through her system, Kim's sight and hearing seemed to expand beyond what she had ever experienced; she could hear the sirens in the distance and knew it would take them too long to get there, she could hear another, weaker, scream from upstairs, and she suddenly knew what to do.

She rushed outside and ran toward the drainage tube. Before the man could run out as well to stop her she had already climbed it up to the second floor.

The thought about the impossibility of the situation never occurred to her. It was as if a small but undeniable voice deep inside her kept repeating her website's slogan, "_I can do anything_…" like a mantra.

* * *

When Ron arrived at the house, gasping for breath, he saw only a man standing in the front yard, holding a portable phone in his hand. "Where's KP?"

The man seemed to be in a stumped silence; he didn't even react to the voice coming from the phone, so Ron just followed his gaze upward.

And he looked just in time so that he could just see his best friend's legs disappearing over the edge of the roof. "KP!"

* * *

Climbing up to the roof by the rain pipe was almost as easy as scaling a tree, and it took Kim only moments to reach the roof and climb to the attic window.

When she looked through the window, Kim could really see the scale of the fire inside the house; it was clear that the fire had started either in the attic or on the second floor and was slowly making its way down.

Fortunately the window was a tumbling window and Kim could easily push it open to get inside.

The redhead was greeted by a wall of heat, and the fire seemed to relish at the new oxygen provided by the open window. "_Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…"_

"Joey! Joey, can you hear me?"

Hearing nothing, Kim tried to look through the thick smoke. Holding the sleeve of her shirt in front of her mouth and nose to prevent inhaling too much smoke she began to walk across the attic floor, occasionally calling out of Joey.

Seconds stretched out and seemed like hours, and Kim was starting to wonder whether this had been such a great idea, but some drive deep inside her kept her going, insisting that she had to find the boy before it was too late.

And then she saw him, curled up in the corner of the attic while the flames were slowly creeping toward him.

"Joey!" Kim rushed to the child and noticed he was barely breathing; only an occasional wheeze emerged from the kid's lungs.

Everything that Kim knew about first aid was from tales that her mother told about what happened in the hospital, and since she was a neurosurgeon, that wasn't much to go on in this case. But Kim knew she had to get Joey out of the house as quickly as possible.

She picked the boy up and turned toward the attic window, hoping she could get the firemen's attention once they were on the roof, but the fire had already closed off that exit.

* * *

When the fire truck arrived, Ron was completely frantic, and Simon, the neighbor of the now clearly burning house, had to put in a lot of effort to restrain the boy.

"KP's inside, you have to rescue her!"

"What?" The fireman turned to Simon, who explained the situation as best as he could. "What was she thinking?"

He began to command his men to start putting out the fire and to get someone upstairs to rescue the – now two – trapped children. "Are there more people still in the house?"

"No," Simon said, "Meggy was a single mother and there's no sign of visitors."

Moments later, an ambulance arrived and the paramedics took the care for Meggy over from the firemen, who could now turn their full attention to the burning house.

"We can't get up the stairs," one of the firemen said. "The steps are weakened too much to carry our weight."

"Use the ladder from the truck and get up to the attic, and let's hope that that girl is still there and alive."

* * *

Kim began to feel dizzy as the remaining oxygen in the air rapidly diminished. And carrying Joey meant she had to use even more oxygen as well.

"_Got to find a way out, away from the fire… water!"_

It was a long shot, but if Kim could get to the bathroom, she could at least protect herself and Joey from the heat of the fire, because at this rate it wouldn't take long before either of their clothes caught on fire as well.

Fortunately, the attic did not have a hatch, instead opening directly to a staircase. But that staircase was also on fire.

Taking a mental deep breath – a real one would have sent her into a coughing fit – Kim jumped through the flames onto a patch that had not caught on fire yet.

From there she jumped up again and pushed herself off the wall with her feet. She flew over another piece of burning carpet and then she stood in front of the bathroom door.

Her first attempt at opening the door nearly caused her to burn her fingers, but when she covered her hand with the sleeve of her shirt, she managed to get the door open.

The bathroom was a haven compared to the rest of the house; even though it was filled with smoke, the fire had not been able to do much against the floor and wall tiles and the towel rack was still out of the fire's reach.

Kim dashed for the bathtub and opened the faucets, hoping that the water still worked.

* * *

"There's fire everywhere," one of the firemen who had gone up to the attic said into the radio. "I can't see anyone." Then the others who had remained on the ground heard him call Kim and Joey's names several times. "No response." After that they heard nothing because the rush of water from the fire hose drowned out any conversation.

A group of people had arrived at the scene to see what was going on, and the firemen were too busy putting out the fire to keep them away as well. Fortunately another fire truck arrived shortly after, as well as another ambulance and a police car.

One of the paramedics approached Ron, who seemed about to roll into a fetal position if he could've done so and still see what was happening.

"What's your name?" she asked, trying to comfort the boy.

"R-Ron," Ron replied. "KP is still in there. And she may…" he began to sob softly.

The paramedic had heard part of the story of the crazy girl who had tried to save the boy who apparently was still inside, and she assumed Ron was her friend, or brother. "Hey, they'll get her out, they'll get both of them out."

But Ron had suddenly gone completely silent, as if he heard something the others couldn't. "I hear water running."

"Well, yeah. They're putting out a fire…"

"No, in the bathroom!" Ron pointed at the bathroom window. "They're in there!" He began to run to one of the firemen; completely forgetting about the cordon the police had set up.

Try as they might, no police officer managed to catch the blond boy as he ran toward the chief fireman. "KP is in the bathroom! I heard the water running!"

* * *

Kim was relieved when the water still ran even though it was already lukewarm and not at full power; apparently the plumbing system was already taking damage from the fire.

After a few moments of blissfully cooling down under the stream, Kim took a glance at her reflection in the mirror, a soaking wet girl at the end of her stamina, with black stains all over her face and clothes and somewhat singed hair looked back. But the look in her eyes was still filled with determination to get out of this alive and with Joey.

"_Is this me?_" A part of Kim's mind wondered, but the adrenaline-filled side easily took over again and the redhead began looking for a way out of this mess.

Then, suddenly, over the roar of the fire in the rest of the house, Kim could hear a voice calling out. "KP!"

She could barely breath in deep enough to yell back. "Ron!" Before she could say more she was overcome with a coughing fit.

When her breathing returned back to somewhat normal, Kim began to hear more noises; cars, sirens, people. "_How did I miss that before… and how could I hear Ron?"_

But all those thoughts were pushed to the background when Kim heard a much deeper voice from really nearby. "Kim? Are you okay? Is Joey with you?"

"Yes." Kim suppressed more coughs. "I think I'm okay. I have Joey with me… he's not doing so well."

Moments later, the bathroom window was ripped away and a fireman appeared in front of the opening. "Get over here quickly, we have a ladder to get you down."

Kim picked up Joey as best as she could and staggered to the opening in the wall as the fireman reached in to take the boy over from her. Fortunately they were so soaked that the flames that were blazing close by had little effect for the moment.

The fireman moved away and Kim climbed out the window by herself. Then she felt the hand of a second fireman on her shoulder.

He leaned over to her, almost conspiringly. "Whatever they say later, you saved a life." Then he helped her to the ladder and they quickly climbed down.

* * *

"Were you even thinking? You could have just as easily died in there!"

Kim felt on the verge of tears by the – in her own opinion – worst dressing-down she had ever received. She sat on the edge of the fire truck with a blanket wrapped around her, fighting the urge to crawl completely into the blanket.

The second ambulance had left with Joey, and since Kim had come out of the ordeal without injury and with only a minor case of smoke inhalation the paramedics had agreed to let her wait for her parents, who had been informed as well and were on the way.

The fire had been successfully doused, and only two firemen were busy putting out the few embers that were still glowing.

Ron wanted to come to his friend's aid and shout at the chief that Kim had rescued Joey, but he was gently held back by one of the other firemen, even though the fireman didn't seem to be feeling too comfortable about this as well.

"And you put not only yourself at risk," the chief went on, "your actions also caused us to have to look for you, diverting attention from searching for Joey. What if you hadn't found him?"

Hot tears burned in the corner of her eyes, and Kim blinked them furiously back; she didn't want to start crying now.

The confidence she had when entering the burning house was completely gone, and Kim wished she could call upon it at least one more time.

"_Anything is possible… I'm a Possible…"_

"_You're just a babysitter…"_

"_Joey could have died…"_

"_You could have died…"_

"_I'm Kim Possible!"_

In the vortex of thoughts, Kim had not heard the last thing the chief had said. But it was probably intended to bring her down even more. But now he looked at her, as if he was waiting for her to reply or admit she was wrong.

"_I am Kim Possible!"_

"You would have been too late to rescue Joey!" Kim suddenly shouted. "By the time I got to him, the fire had almost reached him. I don't care what you think… so I put myself at risk, I'd do it again."

Kim crossed her arms over her chest and glared defiantly at the chief, but she was surprised when he was now sporting a warm smile.

"That's the spirit. That's what makes you a true hero. All we have to do now is file off the rough edges and we have an excellent addition to the team."

Kim stared back, confused. "But why did you yell at me for that?"

The chief, named Walter according to his nametag, turned serious again. "What you did was very dangerous, and I really don't want you to do such a thing again… not without proper training at least."

"Wait… you're offering KP a job?" Ron asked, wording Kim's thoughts. During the conversation he had managed to get away from the other fireman and took position next to Kim, making her feel much more at ease.

"Not a job per se," Walter said, "but someone like you could be a great asset to the team in a few years when you are old enough to actually help out. It would be a waste not to prepare you beforehand."

"KP already rescues cats from trees on a regular basis," Ron proudly stated, not noticing Kim's uncertain frown.

Walter smiled. "You're already helping people… no harm getting some training for it, right?"

"I-I'll think about it," Kim finally said. But then she noticed a familiar car pulling up. "Mom! Dad!"

* * *

When Kim ran over to greet her parents, with Ron following close behind, Victor, another senior fireman and the one who had held back Ron for a moment, turned to Walter. "Did you have to do that? She's just a little girl. Save the mental abuse for the adult wannabe heroes, okay?"

Walter shook his head as he watched the redhead hug her parents while she tried to convince them that she was okay. "She had the _spark_, didn't you see it? Right when she suddenly stepped up against me… I bet she had that same look when she decided to rescue the little boy."

Victor frowned. "Perhaps, but you know as well as I do that you can't recruit a twelve or thirteen year old."

Walter grinned. "Just showing her the ropes will be good. Believe me, that girl is destined to save lives."

This time Victor laughed. "All right you old fool, you convinced me with your idea." He slapped the older man's back as they walked back to the truck. "Cathy and Brigitte have been complaining that there are too many men at the station anyway."

Both men couldn't suppress their laughs as they stepped into the truck, earning them several confused looks from the younger firefighters.

* * *

"Mom, I'm fine," Kim said as her mother examined her skin again for any burn marks. "The nurse said so too."

It was true, except for a little reddening of her skin here and there and somewhat badly singed hair, Kim had come out of the fire unharmed. Even the coughing from smoke inhalation had completely stopped before they even got to the hospital.

"No pain? No ache anywhere? No irritated feeling on your skin?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked as she critically checked over her daughter's arms and legs one more time.

Kim sighed; her mother was clearly in 'doctor mode.' "Really, only my hand hurts a bit from touching that doorknob, and even there I don't have blisters. And I'm getting cold sitting here in nothing but my underwear."

"Your dad will be back with new clothes shortly. Besides, you couldn't keep those old clothes on anyway," the elder redhead said. "They were completely soaked, and they didn't fare that well in the fire either. Maybe I can salvage the pants if I turn them into shorts…"

Kim rolled her eyes. "I just hope dad picks out something decent."

This time Anne Possible let a smile creep onto her lips; the things her daughter could worry about in a situation like this. "You sure instructed him well enough. Don't worry, he won't pick out a fashion disaster. Why don't you take a shower to get that smell of smoke out?"

* * *

Kim had just finished showering and had wrapped herself in a towel when she heard a gentle knock on the door of the hospital room.

"Can I come in?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked before opening the door a crack. "Sorry it took me a while. I had to bring Ronald home first."

"That's okay dad." Kim accepted the stack of clothes and inspected them briefly. Then she smiled contentedly. "You got the right set, thanks dad."

As his daughter walked back into the bathroom, Mr. Dr. Possible turned to his wife. "Whew, averted another disaster."

Anne chuckled. "You know how to follow instructions dear. Now if we could get your actual fashion sense installed…"

Both parents shared a laugh at that, but the mirth quickly turned to seriousness. Mr. Dr. Possible was the first to say something. "I just can't believe she went into a burning house to save someone. It feels just so… distant from reality."

Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded. "I know what you mean, and she already mentioned being invited to take a look at the fire brigade."

"Ron told me about it on the ride home. I think even he can't fully comprehend this one."

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked as she emerged from the bathroom while trying to get her hair in a ponytail. Several hairs that were shortened by the fire kept springing loose.

"Kimmie, why don't you sit down so we can talk." Kim's mother said, patting the spot on the bed next to where she sat.

"Here?" Kim asked, already having a good idea of what her parents wanted to talk about.

"As good a place as any." Anne looked at the clock. "Jim and Tim won't be finished with soccer practice for another hour."

Kim frowned. "Weren't you supposed to be there as a coach dad?"

"I'm only an assistant coach," Mr. Dr. Possible replied. "Mr. Wilkins still holds the reins… although the stress might be getting to him…" A gentle nudge from his wife brought him back on track. "But this was more important anyway."

Kim nodded silently and sat down next to her mother.

A brief but very uncomfortable silence followed.

Kim finally broke the silence. "I had to go in there. I had to save him."

"We understand that honey," Kim's mother said, "You always wanted to help people. But we don't want to lose you."

Kim sighed and looked down thoughtfully. "Maybe I should accept that offer from the fire brigade, because I want to keep helping people."

Kim's parents looked at each other; it was clear that Kim had made a decision and was going to stick with it.

"Kim." Kim looked up since her father rarely used her name, instead preferring the slightly embarrassing nickname 'Kimmie-cub.' "If you really want to do this, you'll have our full support. But you have to promise you will take every precaution, do anything, to ensure your own safely, okay?"

Kim smiled and nodded. "I will. I'll make sure to wear fire retardant clothing next time I enter a burning building."

Kim's mother hid her slightly pained expression as she stood up. "Would you like to check on the boy you saved today? Joey was it?"

Kim stood up as well. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Yes, he's recovering nicely." As they walked out of the hospital room Anne suddenly felt that this _was_ the right thing for her daughter to be doing, despite how others thought of it, and even despite how part of her felt about it.

* * *

Ron was very excited as he and Kim walked from school to the fire station. Maybe they would let them sound the siren, or slide down the fire pole. And it would only be the two of them, not an entire class, like a couple of years ago during a field trip.

The past few days had been hectic to say the least. An actual TV reporter had interviewed Kim about her heroics, and Joey and his mother had been there too as well as several of the firemen.

Ron had been confused a bit when the reporter – Summer something – had them do the initial meeting with Joey and his mother three times over, even when Kim had already spoken to Joey's mother in the hospital a few days before that. But Kim just took it in stride, and the firemen even seemed to think it was very funny, joking about a 'genuine' report of events.

At school, the reactions had been mixed, ranging from, "What a hero!" to "She's crazy!", although the general consensus seemed to be positive.

As for how he felt, Ron wasn't entirely sure. He was immensely proud that Kim had saved a life, even though her actions had made his heart skip several beats.

But Kim had always been somewhat of a daredevil – pushing herself to every limit she could find, taking on seemingly impossible challenges, and generally doing things Ron wouldn't even consider doing, like climbing a nearly branchless tree to free a kite or diving from a thirty-foot cliff into one of the mountain lakes. The last had even seemed to shake Kim, seeing as she hadn't seemed much inclined to continue swimming that day. Although lately, ever since joining the swim team, she had been glancing at the sheer cliff that sided the lake again.

On some level, Ron knew that Kim would stop her danger-seeking if she found out how much it often scared him. But he couldn't bear the thought of depriving her of the joy of what Kim's mother used to call an adrenaline rush.

All those thoughts vanished when the fire station came into view and Ron could barely keep himself from running toward the building.

Kim chuckled when she noticed her friend's anticipation. "Relax Ron, we've got the whole afternoon."

But Kim was also looking forward to it. Lately she had been thinking about what happened during that fire, and how her parents thought about it, and she had tried to weigh the dangers against how good it felt to be able to do what she had done. In the end it had been her Taekwondo instructor who had given her the advice that convinced her to go through with it.

* * *

"Kimberly." Mr. Gyeong said in reply to her question on what to do. Her Taekwondo instructor had always refused to call her just Kim. "Would you say you were a natural at martial arts?"

Kim shrugged; she knew she could pretty much learn a fighting move by just watching it one or a few times, something her fellow martial arts students envied her for, but she didn't like to brag. "I guess… but I wouldn't have been nearly as good without your instructions."

"Indeed." Mr. Gyeong grinned; he was well aware of the fact that Kim had roamed around the – surprisingly abundant – dojos in the tri-city area over the past few years before settling down and focusing on two branches of martial arts to really master, Taekwondo and Yusul. "A few days ago you saved someone from a burning building. Would you have done that better if you had been trained for that?"

A small smile formed on Kim's lips. "I think I would have. Thank you."

Mr. Gyeong bowed slightly. "Good, but now would be the time to put the training you do have to practice. We have some eager new students and I could certainly use some help giving them an introduction."

* * *

"Hi Kim and… Ron was it, right?" Walter greeted the teens as they entered the fire station. "Welcome to our humble abode."

Kim smiled and looked around; she and Ron had visited the fairly large fire station before on a class trip several years ago, but not too much seemed to have changed. Only some of the equipment seemed more modern than she remembered.

The first thing that Ron noticed was the fire pole. He had to force his gaze away from it in order to hear what Walter was saying.

The fireman laughed. "We don't use that thing much anymore, health regulations and such."

"Besides, we have everything on the same floor now," one of the other firemen present said.

Walter chuckled when he saw Ron's longing look. "Hey, it still works. Victor, why don't you show him how it's done?"

Victor grinned and gestured for Ron to follow him. The blond haired boy nodded eagerly and quickly pulled something from his pocket. "KP, can you hold on to Rufus? He might not like the ride down."

"You brought Rufus along?" Kim asked with a frown, but she accepted Ron's pet nonetheless. She was still getting used to the baby naked mole rat and thought it a crazy idea for Ron to bring it everywhere he went. At least she no longer had an issue touching it.

* * *

"You don't want to give it a try?" Walter offered as they watched first Victor and then Ron descend the fire pole, the latter with a scream that held the middle between excitement and panic.

Kim smiled. "I hope to be able to get to try that more often as I gain some practice here."

The chief fireman raised his eyebrow. "So you are considering doing this? And here I had a whole speech prepared to convince you to join us."

Kim chuckled, but quickly turned serious again, more serious than Walter thought someone her age should be. "I really like helping people, but I know that when I put myself at risk, I'm hurting others, like my parents and friends. If I'm going to help people, I want to do it the right way."

"Besides," she added with an amused grin, "you do still rescue cats from trees as well, right?"

Walter's mustache wavered for a moment, something that only his closest friends would recognize for the emotions that coursed through him. "I think you will fit right in."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, as you can see, I'm going to divert further away from canon here, but I can't give Kim a mundane life, right? I hope you enjoyed this one, more to come soon.


	3. Freshman Year

Thanks everyone for reviewing. I hope you will enjoy this one as well.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Special thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Freshman Year**

Kim landed in a perfect crouch and held that position for several seconds. Then she stood straight and took a moment to regain her breath.

Turning around, the redhead shot a beaming smile at the girls standing behind her. "That one went perfect."

As the other girls cheered enthusiastically, Julie gave Kim an approving smile; the girl had a natural ability to lead and it was showing clearly in the performance of the freshman squad. Even Bonnie had been caught up in the redhead's enthusiasm regarding the upcoming cheerleading regionals, even though she never missed an opportunity to challenge Kim.

But for some reason, hostilities never broke out between the two most promising cheerleaders of the freshman team.

The senior cheerleader was convinced that her talk with Bonnie had had an influence on the brunette, but it did make Julie wonder sometimes what would have happened if she hadn't arrived just after Kim's 'audition.'

Shrugging off the unanswerable question, the girl stood up and smiled at the entire team. "Great work, this will certainly get you in the top three in the competition."

As the younger cheerleaders walked out, Julie turned to the junior and senior cheerleaders who had started to walk in while the freshman squad rounded off their practice. "And now we have to prepare for the first football match of the year. Oh, and Cassandra, you owe me five bucks."

One of the other seniors, a dark-haired girl with a slight Latina appearance, sighed and handed the cheerleading captain the money. "No one can do that much and not even show a single sign of exhaustion, I was sure of it. Same bet? Say two weeks?"

Julie smirked. "Your loss."

"I can't believe you," Amelia, a junior student, said. "Betting money on when someone breaks down."

"I'm betting on her to keep it up," Julie explained. "Besides, we're not doing her any harm, are we?"

"I think it's wrong to play games like that." The brunette insisted before she walked off to the 'water bench' where several water bottles, towels and a first aid kit waited for anyone who needed it.

Amelia was no cheerleader, but her interest in medicine had earned her a place as a caretaker in many of the sportive activities. And since cheerleading practice was prone to injuries, the brunette often attended the sessions and helped out if needed.

Julie shook her head; maybe betting on when Kim would crumble under the pressure she put herself to was not really ethical, but the senior was certain that this wouldn't harm the redhead.

What she was more worried about was Cassandra's statement, "No one can do that much and not even show a single sign of exhaustion."

Drug use was relatively rare in the tri-city area high schools but the last thing Julie wanted was one of her cheerleaders on performance-enhancing drugs. She had seen the nasty effects first-hand on a good friend and didn't wish it on anyone.

* * *

"Okay, I give up…" Ron stared desperately at his half-finished math homework as Kim wrapped up the last of her homework, which included several assignments from committees she had joined. "How do you do that? We started at the same time, you had three times a much work to do, and I'm not even halfway finished."

Kim rolled her eyes. "For starters, you kept checking up on how far I was. And you took, like, three snack breaks, one of which ended up in you playing a video game for fifteen minutes."

"Yes but…" Ron gestured at the pile of work Kim had finished. "You had all that work."

Kim shrugged. "It helps to just put one foot in front of the other and keep on going."

"That doesn't make sense, you sat in your chair all the time."

"Metaphor Ron," Kim said as she stood up and stretched. "But yeah, I've been sitting here way too long. I'm going over to the fire station. Cathy and Brigitte had promised me they would show me around a bit better than the 'men' could. Are you coming as well?"

Ron stared sadly at his homework. "I wish I could, but Mr. Barkin has his eye on me. If I don't hand this in tomorrow, he'll definitely give me even more homework."

"Too bad." Kim had found out she enjoyed having Ron around during her activities, ranging from swimming to cheerleading and everything in between; his enthusiasm always boosted her spirits. "Walk me halfway?"

Ron smiled. "Sure." The route to his house was on the same way as the route to the fire station. "But could you first help me at least with this one question? I really don't know what 'x' is supposed to be."

* * *

"I bet Walter showed you nothing more than the training room and the fire trucks, right?" Cathy asked with a knowing grin.

Kim chuckled. "In his defense, he also showed the gear room and the fire pole."

Brigitte rolled her eyes. "Boys and their toys…"

Both women were in their late twenties, early thirties, and, as they told Kim, cousins. When Kim had noticed the remarkable lack of similarities between the blonde-haired and pale-skinned Cathy and dark-skinned Brigitte they had explained that they were related through their respective husbands.

"But if you ever see those two together, don't even bother asking the same question," Brigitte had joked, "they're both adopted and look even more distant than we do."

At first, Kim had been amazed by the openness of the two women and their apparent immediate need to take her under their wing. But in a way, she felt really comfortable with this familiarity.

* * *

"This is the kitchen," Brigitte said as they lead the girl further through the fire station, "We all take shifts in cooking and cleaning when we're on call. And even though the latter won't be an issue for you for the next few years, it is the best way to get a feel of the rhythm."

"You can cook, right?" Cathy asked with an amused smile.

Kim shrugged. "On good days I can fry eggs without burning them. I'm more of a microwave cook."

"Oh, that won't do here," Cathy stated. "We need our energy. Junk food isn't any good for that."

"You're not filling up on Cow 'n Chow after school, are you?" Brigitte then asked.

Kim looked down, embarrassed. "Bueno Nacho… but I only stick to salads."

"No wonder you're so skinny." Kim glared at Brigitte, but knew she couldn't say much to that; the woman was certainly not overweight, but she did have a large and strong build – someone you wouldn't mess with.

"I can pull my own weight," Kim said defiantly, about to point out that she was often placed in the more demanding positions during cheerleading moves because of her strength even though it didn't show in her lithe frame.

"I'm sure you do," Cathy said in a soothing voice. "But you have to remember that this is a job that brings full grown men to their knees."

Brigitte smirked. "You'll understand during a training session."

Kim wasn't sure what to say to that; so far, there hadn't been a roadblock in her life she couldn't overcome. And she wasn't one to give up easily.

* * *

"McHenry got us again. Now he's refusing to give insurance assistance when we have been involved. And his PR campaign is hurting us majorly." Crash complained.

"How bad is it?" Dash asked.

"Let me put it this way," Crash said, "if some kind of hero showed up and stole away all of our jobs without asking money for it, we'd be better off."

"So, what are we going to do about it?"

"Burn!"

"Okaaay…" Dash looked skeptical. "Don't you think that is overdoing it a bit?"

"What? No, I was calling Burn to get over here. He should be thinking with us instead of doing weight training."

"I like to be in perfect shape," Burn commented as he joined the others. "And I kinda like the idea of setting fire to McHenry's office. Maybe we can rescue him afterwards and regain some credit… and credits."

Crash and Dash still looked uncertain, but Burn noticed the slight trace of interest on their faces. "Come on, we're pretty much down to what Paisly paid us anyway. We need some action like this if McHenry keeps messing with us."

* * *

"You weren't kidding when you said this was tough," Kim gasped, near completely out of breath, as she sat down on a bench at the end of the training course.

The fire station was located at the outskirts of Middleton, on the road to Upperton and Lowerton, enabling the firemen to quickly respond to calls for help from their colleagues as well as having a great spot to set up a training location.

Cathy and Brigitte smirked at the sight of Victor's open mouth; the senior fireman was clearly astonished by the feat this young teenager just pulled off. Kim was barely able to stand, but she had completed the course the first time around, something only a few rookies had managed so far.

The dark-skinned woman laughed. "If this doesn't work out, you can always join the commandos." But she too was pretty amazed by the redhead's performance, and even more her stubbornness; she had gone on where normal stamina would have run out a long time before.

With shaky hands, Kim managed to open a water bottle and drain its contents. "So, you do this, like, every week?"

"Every other week," Cathy replied, "or when we think we're slacking off."

"Or to discourage newbies who think being a fireman is all fun and glory," Brigitte added gesturing at the large amounts of sand and mud that clung to everyone.

"But you passed with flying colors," Victor said after finally having recovered from his stupor. "There _is_ still hope for kids today."

Kim chuckled weakly and tried to get to her feet, but found she couldn't. "This really blows cheerleading practice out of the water."

"Don't I know it," Victor sighed dramatically, earning him a few laughs from the rest of the group that had assembled for he training course. There were several firemen from the Upperton and Lowerton stations as well, since Middleton provided the best training opportunity. And even though some of the trainees were only a couple of years older than Kim, she suddenly felt really young in this group.

"Why did you want me to start training here?" Kim asked when Cathy and Brigitte sat down next to her, each grabbing a bottle of water as well.

Both women looked at each other, and then Brigitte took a demonstrative swig from her bottle, making it clear that Cathy should explain.

The blonde glared at her colleague but started nonetheless. "Walter saw the spark in you."

Noticing Kim's confused expression, Brigitte joined in. "Walter's been in this game for over three decades. He has an eye for spotting the best firefighters there are… It's not just about dousing the flames, it's about being part of a team, the willingness to risk your own health for others, and most of all the bravery to stare down the fire and show it who's boss."

"Right…" Kim's face spoke otherwise.

"You'll understand in due time," Brigitte promised. Then she grinned at the redhead. "Now, are you able to walk back to the locker rooms or do we need to get you a gurney?"

* * *

The firefighter's training was intense, but Kim really began to understand its merit during cheerleading practice. The other girls – no slouches themselves – were showing clear signs of exhaustion after practice, but Kim soon found she was barely out of breath.

Even though Kim wouldn't be joining in the actual rescue and firefighting business for a long time, she was quickly accepted into the tight group and occasionally invited to observe during real-life training sessions and even accompany the firemen in an actual firefighting operation, although she had to promise to keep her distance and not get involved.

Via her mother, Kim also started first aid training. "It's time someone else in this household learns to apply a bandage," Mrs. Dr. Possible had said when Kim asked her about the first aid training. "Between you and your brothers, I'm still surprised I could handle it all by myself."

"Well, you're the best doctor there is," Kim had replied with a grin, knowing that a little flattery always went a long way with her mother.

Anne Possible smirked. "Don't expect favoritism young lady, you won't get it from me."

Kim just smiled; her parents wouldn't be who they were if it weren't for their tough but fair policy.

* * *

As the months progressed, the betting died down as it was clear that Kim was unaffected by the huge amount of work she submit herself to; if anything she was performing even better.

Even though Julie had made some pocket money from betting in the redhead's favor – enough to really speed up buying the latest fashion black jacket from Club Banana – she was still concerned about Kim using performance-enhancing drugs.

However, the cheerleading captain did not want to accuse anyone of something like that, and thus thoroughly disturbing their reputation, without clear evidence. But she had already gone as far as rummaging through the freshman's gym bag on one occasion.

So far, everything pointed to Kim not using anything more powerful than the occasional energy drink, but Julie couldn't quiet the suspicion that was borne from having had a friend go down that road.

Her suspicions rose again when Kim was the last to step out of the locker room on one occasion, looking uncomfortable at first but performing even better than usual. This, Julie could tell, was much to Bonnie's dismay, because it would probably mean that the redhead would be on top of the pyramid during the regionals.

Julie wasn't sure what to do right then, but just before the next practice she overheard Kim and Bonnie talking before they headed into the locker room.

"What's the matter K? Feeling jumpy again, just like last practice?"

Kim huffed. "I just had a lot of energy. I can't help it if you can't keep up."

Bonnie grumbled something and stepped into the locker room and past Julie, shortly after followed by Kim. The senior cheerleader noticed that the redhead was stalling while she occasionally glanced at Bonnie.

It didn't take long before all the cheerleaders arrived and donned their gear. Then they moved to the gym to get warmed up, leaving only Kim and Julie in the locker room.

"I uh… I need to use the bathroom first," Kim said, looking a bit nervous. "I'll join you in a minute."

Julie nodded and made as if to walk out.

"_It's now or never… I need to know," _the cheerleader thought as she waited just outside of the locker room.

Soon she heard the bathroom door open again, but Kim did not come out of the locker room.

With a sigh, the senior stepped back into the locker room and looked at Kim, who had just taken what looked like a large syringe from her bag.

"What are you doing?" Julie sharply demanded as she glared at the shocked girl in front of her. "This could get you expelled."

"I-I…" Kim stammered as she fruitlessly tried to hide the syringe. "It's Bonnie's fault, she started it!"

"I don't care," Julie snapped. "We'll get to her later. Don't you know what this can do to you? This stuff can kill you."

This time Kim looked at the older girl in puzzlement. "What?"

The genuine confusion on the younger girl's face made Julie stop for a moment. "Just what were you planning on doing?"

Kim looked down, embarrassed. "I wanted to get back at Bonnie. Last practice she put itching powder in my socks… do you have any idea how bad that feels? I tried to dust them off and wear them inside out, but it still itched terribly. All because she wants to be on top during the regionals."

Julie frowned; Kim _had_ started out seeming uncomfortable, and she'd walked funny during the last practice. "Why didn't you say so… and what did you plan as revenge?" At least the last part she could understand… a prank deserved retribution.

Kim sighed. "And give her the satisfaction of knowing she can manipulate me? I freaked her out a lot better by not showing anything, and even doing my extra best in practice."

Julie slowly nodded; it made some sense. It also made her glad she wouldn't have to put up with these two headstrong girls for years to come. "What's with the syringe?"

Kim looked at the object in her hand. "This is nothing to influence her performance. I won't stoop to that. This is just… to make her cleanup duty more interesting."

The senior cheerleader frowned; Bonnie had cleanup duty that day, meaning she had to check whether the gym equipment was all back in storage after practice, and she had to make sure the locker room looked reasonably clean after use. Not that the cheerleaders were that messy, but it was not nice for the next users of the locker room to slip on water and soap remains. Usually it meant that the cheerleader on cleanup duty was the last to leave the gym and the last to leave the locker room.

Julie smirked. "You didn't really answer my question."

Kim chuckled slightly. "This is high-expansion foam. The guys at the fire station gave me some. I wanted to put it in Bonnie's shampoo bottle. Mixed with water, it can expand two- to three-hundred times… It's completely harmless and biodegradable though." She hastened to add.

Julie wasn't sure how to react. The prank actually sounded pretty funny – if you weren't the one on cleanup duty anyway – and she was relieved that Kim was not using drugs… at least, right now. That last part made her decide to be honest and see where that took them. "Kim, I… I thought you were using something to enhance your performance… that's why I harshed on you."

Kim's eyes widened. "You thought I used drugs? Not in a million years. My mom's a doctor and she is even strict on the use of pain medication, let alone stronger stuff… I've seen addicts too." She shivered slightly. "Not something I'd like."

At that moment, Tara poked her head through the open door. "Are you guys okay?"

Julie smiled and nodded at the blonde. "Yeah." She stood up and looked at Kim. "Maybe we still need a talk…" She thought for a moment and then looked at the door where Tara had already disappeared. "Oh, and I didn't see you holding anything. Make sure you'll join us in a minute."

As she joined the other cheerleaders, Julie chuckled to herself. "_Itching powder and super foam… I better make sure never to cross those two._"

* * *

"I'm sorry I accused you of using drugs," Julie said. Cheerleading practice had finished and she and Kim had taken a seat in the gym teacher's office. "It's just… I think I just wasn't able to place your extraordinary capability."

Kim chuckled. "You've clearly never met my brothers. I'm the mundane one at home."

Julie remembered Amelia once saying something about Kim's mother being a neurosurgeon, and Kim herself may have mentioned her father working with high tech rockets. "_Talk about being genetically predisposed…_"

Kim continued more seriously. "But I don't think I would ever use something that harmful to enhance my performance. Besides, I'm a terrible liar and my mother is a doctor; she would notice immediately."

"I don't know about that one," Julie replied, "a very good friend of mine was a user for two years without anyone noticing. I was the first to find out… It made me really cautious afterwards."

"Oh, I…" Kim wasn't sure what to say to that, fortunately Julie noticed her expression.

"Don't burden yourself with that," The older girl said with a weak smile. "Things worked out in the end… somewhat. She's okay now."

Kim nodded. "Well, if it helps, this only strengthens my resolve not to use drugs."

Julie did her best to provide the younger girl with a genuine smile. "_I hope you will never have to find out how slippery that slope is_."

Instead, she asked, "So, how did you come up with the foam idea?"

Kim chuckled, slightly embarrassed by the mention of the prank which should still be underway. "Some friends at the fire station gave me the idea… and the foam." Then she frowned. "Why did you let me continue with it?"

Julie shrugged. "She put itching powder in your socks, this retaliation is benign enough."

A scream from the locker rooms caught their attention. A couple of minutes later, Bonnie stormed out of the locker rooms, half-dressed, her hair disheveled and pieces of insistent foam still clinging to it. "I'll get you for this Possible…" she stopped in her tracks when she noticed Kim and Julie looking at her.

"You did this!" Bonnie pointed an accusing finger at the redhead.

Before Kim could answer, Julie chimed in. "Kim has been with me ever since practice. I think it's a bit unfair to accuse her of whatever happened to you… what happened to you by the way?"

"You switched…" Bonnie stopped herself when she noticed Julie's glare. "Someone switched my shampoo bottle for some kind of super foam. I dropped the bottle in panic and now the showers are filled to the top with foam."

"That's so weird," Kim immediately replied. "During last practice, someone put itching powder in my socks." She turned to Julie. "Do you think we have some kind of prankster running around?"

Bonnie glared at the other girls. "Well, you have to help me clean this up. Every time I add water, more foam pops up."

"I'm sure it'll wash out eventually," Julie reassured the brunette. "We'll help you get the foam out of the showers. Why don't you get properly dressed first?"

Only then Bonnie noticed her attire, combined with the fact she was pretty much standing in the hallway. With a yelp she ran back into the locker room.

Julie grinned at Kim's expression. "I never said you would get out of this scot-free."

Kim pouted a bit, but then relented. "Fine… but it's her own stupid fault for dropping the bottle like that."

* * *

Today was the big day, the day Kim had been waiting for four years to happen.

For the first time, a visit to the dentist was not filled with apprehension. Sure it would hurt, but who cared? Her braces would finally be removed.

"You sure are eager to go in there," Kim's mother remarked with a grin; Kim was almost longingly staring at the door to the waiting room, waiting for the dentist's assistant to call her name.

"I'll finally be able to chew gum normally again, and eat salad without having to pick leaves out for half an hour," Kim replied. After a knowing grin from her mother, she added the most important factor. "And I can finally show a full smile without blinding someone."

"Honey, that school picture looked great. Nana said she loved it."

Kim looked down. "I look terrible on pictures. Every time someone tries to snap a picture, something stupid happens."

Anne Possible couldn't help but chuckle; three sneezing incidents did give credit to Kim's complaints, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the young redhead claimed it to be. "You look lovely on a lot of pictures, and without those braces you'll look even better."

That did the trick, and Kim's smile returned as she continued gazing at the door. "Now if she would hurry…"

This time Mrs. Dr. Possible had to laugh out loud. Fortunately she and Kim were the only two in the waiting room. "To be able to hear you say that… you used to do anything to delay going to the dentist for previous visits. I remember an incident where Ron locked himself into the tree house and you just had to rescue him."

"That was his own fault," Kim pointed out, but she didn't meet her mother's eyes. "I just happened to make use of it."

The door to the waiting room opened. "Miss Possible? Dr. Fang will see you now."

* * *

"My, Kimberly, this is a side of you I've never seen," Dr. Fang, a middle-aged Chinese woman, remarked.

Kim had already dropped into the dentist's chair, and it was clear she was ready to put her head back and her mouth open the moment the dentist called for it.

"But you have to take it easy, we'll first have to check whether your teeth are really fully back in line." Noticing the redhead's crestfallen expression, the dentist chuckled. "Don't worry, last time you were pretty much there. Unless you landed on your face in the past half year, you should be fine."

Kim chuckled nervously, her anticipation for having her braces removed grown too strong to accept disappointment anymore. "Then I guess I must be fine."

* * *

"Hey Ron," Kim said as she met her best friend. Her smile was positively beaming.

"Hey KP, what's up?" Ron asked. "What was that surprise you told me about?"

Kim was slightly put off by Ron not noticing. "Can't you see something is different?" she asked, then flashed him another toothy smile.

Ron nervously looked his friend up and down; he knew he was always bad at guessing when she changed her attire, but most of the time Kim announced any new additions to her usual clothing in advance. "Uhm…"

Kim sighed; Ron wasn't even looking at her face. "My braces are out, Ron."

"Oh… Ooooh." This time, Ron did look at Kim's face. "Wow, your teeth are so… white."

"Thanks… I guess." Kim's smile quickly returned. "It still feels a bit weird, but I'm so happy they finally came out."

"You really look good," Ron said, making Kim blush even if she didn't really know why. "I bet Bonnie won't be happy about it."

Glad that the strange feeling gave way to humor, Kim chuckled. "I don't know… at least she can't call me 'tin-teeth' behind my back anymore."

Ron huffed. "Bonnie is just jealous because you look better than her."

Again, that weird feeling hit Kim, but when she looked up at Ron his goofy smile was back full force as he suggested they go to Bueno Nacho to celebrate.

"_It's just the feeling of not having the braces anymore," _Kim thought as she followed her best friend. "_Maybe I just feel 'fashionable' again._" She shrugged the thoughts off and anticipated eating a salad without having to order a dozen toothpicks on the side.

* * *

Kim stared at the roaring fire. The fireproof gear she was wearing was a bit too big for her and the hose she held felt a lot bigger and more powerful than the times she had used it for practice. And even then it had nearly blasted her off her feet.

"Come on Kim, you can do it," she heard Brigitte say behind her. "Show that fire who's boss."

There was no backing out now, so Kim just let training take over and attacked the flames.

At first, she nearly lost control over the fire hose, but after a few seconds her aim stabilized and she advanced toward the burning shed.

The simulation shed was built mainly from metal and had been sprayed with a wax that burned at roughly the same temperature as wood. Only in later training sessions were actual wooden sheds were used, both because of the increased difficulty in building a new one, and the risk of the shed collapsing on a fireman.

However, this being the first really big fire Kim had to tackle – not counting the burning house she entered several months earlier – the redhead was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer heat from the flames and their apparent resistance to her attempts at dousing them.

"Small bursts!" Walter shouted. "Don't let those flames regain ground, force them out and cool the spot!"

Kim tried to remember the things about spraying the fire to have a better cooling effect, and maintaining the big picture instead of focusing on one area at a time; giving the fire time to return, but most of the shed was still burning when Walter called time.

He smiled at Kim as she closed off the water and put the hose down, her arms burning from the effort of keeping it under control. "Valiant effort certainly for the first time."

Kim sighed and watched how Victor and Cathy, working together, quickly and efficiently put out the fire. "Thanks… I really thought I had it on the retreat."

Walter nodded. "Why don't we take a look at the videos and see what happened."

* * *

"Now, at that point, you had the fire on the right side pretty much under control." Walter pointed at the two video screens; one of them showed the actual footage, the other showed the same but with heat vision.

Kim nodded. "That's what I thought, but when I went for the left side and tried to corner the fire, it all came back."

The chief looked around the conference room at the other junior firemen; most of them had also recently tried their skill against a live fire. "Can anyone tell me what went wrong?"

One of them, a young man from Upperton, if Kim remembered correctly, made a first suggestion. "The fire was put out, but the shed was still too hot."

Walter nodded approvingly. "Got it in one. Even though the flames were put out, the flammables were still near their combustion temperature; anything will set them off again. Always make sure to cool sufficiently before attacking the next area."

The assembly of four men, aging between twenty and thirty, and two women, Kim and a girl from Lowerton, nodded. Then Walter switched to another video view. "Alright. Now George, as for your performance…"

He was interrupted when the door to the meeting room opened and one of the communication operators stepped in. "We're needed in Middleton. A basement partially collapsed with someone inside."

Walter changed to 'chief mode' immediately. "Any reports of injury?"

"Fortunately, no," the operator replied. "There has been contact with the boy inside, and he managed to call his home from his cell phone. But he can't get out, and there is a risk of further collapse."

The chief nodded. "Call ahead and have the gear prepared." Then he turned to the trainees. "Looks like you're getting a bit more experience today. Remember, watching is okay, but if you don't know what to do, leave it to the experts and try not to get in their way."

They all nodded eagerly and began following Walter to the truck bay. Being part of an actual rescue – even without actually participating – was one of the reasons they joined after all.

* * *

**A/N:** Guess who will be meeting up with in the next chapter? I hope you enjoyed this one, more to come soon.


	4. A boy named Wade

Thanks everyone for reviewing, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter and helping me prevent mistakes and giving me some great suggestions.

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Boy Named Wade**

When Walter and his students arrived at the scene, the police was already present; they were trying to console the clearly distraught parents of the boy who was trapped in the basement of their home.

"Lontain Load," said the African American man as he shook Walter's hand. "Please tell me you can get our boy out of there."

"We'll do what we can," Walter promised. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Lontain's wife answered that question. "Our boy Wade was playing around in the basement. He really loves all kinds of technical stuff… and then there was suddenly a crash and half the basement ceiling came down."

"And you already confirmed that he was relatively okay?" Walter asked.

"Yes, fortunately," Mr. Load said. "He loves to buy all kinds of computer stuff and cell phones at yard sales. He got some of those working and he managed to call us and tell us he was okay, but just when I told him you were on the way to help him the connection got weaker and then broke off."

"Must be all the concrete interfering," Walter commented as he looked at the blueprints of the house he had just received. "The basement was separately built?"

"Yes, we wanted to build a swimming pool several years ago, but due to the ground quality we had to dig out a lot more. By that time it was cheaper to line it with walls and make it into an extended basement."

"And don't forget that Wade practically begged us to turn it into a room," Mrs. Load pointed out. "He is agoraphobic and he didn't like the idea of an outside pool that much."

"How old is Wade?" Victor asked.

"Eight," Lontain said. "We shouldn't have allowed him to play there alone, but he was always so fond of taking apart all those electronics, and there is hardly any room in the garage."

Kim chuckled softly; she knew two other boys who were just like that. But that also brought her back to reality; Wade was just a little boy, like her younger brothers, trapped and alone in a basement. She really hoped they would rescue him as soon as possible.

* * *

It didn't take long before the firemen began unloading equipment to remove the collapsed section of basement. However, it soon became clear that doing so would highly disrupt the already weakened structural integrity of the rest of the basement.

"We can't risk this with Wade still inside," Walter said as he discussed it with the police and the other firemen. "And if we want to drill a way in, we first have to dig out one of the walls. I'm not going to risk collapsing more of the ceiling with drilling from the top."

Meanwhile, the presence of two fire trucks and a police car had attracted quite a crowd, and the police officers were busy keeping the area clear, so they asked the firemen in training to help them keep people behind the line of yellow tape.

* * *

As Kim, clad in a bright yellow safety jacket, guarded her section of the tape (not that many people broke the rules, but there were always those who were just too curious) she spotted Ron standing within the now slowly diminishing crowd. "Hey Ron." she called out with a wave.

"KP!" Ron walked over to where Kim stood. "What is going on? And how did you get in there?"

Kim smirked. "Fireman training." Then she turned more serious. "There is a boy trapped in a partially collapsed basement. We're trying to get him out."

Ron gasped; he was somewhat claustrophobic. "That's terrible. Will you be able to get him out?"

"I hope so." Kim looked up as Victor walked their way.

"We're working on ideas to get the boy out of there without breaking away more of the basement," the fireman said. "The people here are losing interest anyway, so you might as well join us. It's always good to learn from these discussions."

"Oh, can I come too?" Ron asked, eager for some 'safe' action, the sort that didn't encompass risk or strenuous activity.

Kim frowned. "I don't know Ron…" she said, but was momentarily taken aback by his pleading eyes.

"_When did he learn that?_" the redhead thought as she recognized the mediocre but still powerfully felt imitation of her puppy dog pout.

She looked helplessly at Victor, but the fireman shrugged. "As long as you stay back and don't interrupt."

* * *

"Digging away the soil until we reach a wall may collapse the wall because it is made of concrete plates," Walter said. "And digging a tunnel will easily take two days."

"What about the ventilation system?" Brigitte asked as she pointed at a few pictures that were taken of the basement; they showed a happy, and somewhat overweight boy who pointed proudly at a desk table with several disassembled calculators, RC cars and cell phones. The pictures also showed a somewhat bulky ventilation system that connected the basement to the air-conditioning system of the house. "If we can get a look inside the basement we might be able to find a better way in."

"None of us would fit through there," Victor objected. "And we don't have camera-equipped remotes, and requesting one would take at least as long as digging away the basement, believe me."

"I could fit through there," Kim offered; the ventilation shaft was very small, but she was sure she could snake through. "We can't leave that boy waiting all that time… who knows how scared he is right now."

They had tried to call Wade's phone, but every time there was a connection, it broke off after one or two tones. The only thing that got through was a text message from Wade that said he was still okay.

"Too dangerous," Walter said. "The ventilation system goes past the partially collapsed section. If it isn't stable there, you have no way to go. Besides, it's probably blocked off anyway."

"How about we rig a camera to an RC car?" one of the trainees suggested.

"It could work, if not for the dust filters," Walter replied. "And I'm not sure if the signal would carry that far into the system."

"What about a naked mole rat?" Everybody looked at Ron after his suggestion.

"Ron… hush," Kim whispered, afraid that her friend would be sent away.

Suddenly nervous, with every eye on him, Ron coughed. "I… eh… what about a naked mole rat going in through the ventilation system and taking a look? He took Rufus out of his pocket to make his point a bit clearer.

His idea was met mainly with confused frowns. Cathy was one of the few who seemed to consider it. "They do use trained rats to look for earthquake survivors these days… can your mole rat do that?"

"Rufus is super smart," the blond-haired boy proudly stated. "He can negotiate a maze in seconds."

However, it was the fact that the mole rat crossed his paws and nodded smugly that amazed the firemen a lot more.

"Well, he is light enough not to cause a collapse," Walter said. "But I doubt he can carry even our smallest camera."

"Rufus can tell me what he saw," Ron replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

This time, Kim too became the subject of several raised eyebrows.

The redhead shrugged. "Ron has a way with animals. Back before he was scared of them, he once had an hour-long conversation with a monkey at the zoo."

"I'm trying to forget those things," Ron said with a shiver. "Monkeys…"

* * *

As Ron began instructing Rufus, Cathy leaned over to Victor. "Good call allowing him in."

Victor shrugged. "Who'd have guessed he had an intelligent bald rat with him?"

Cathy smirked. "Naked mole rat. But that's not the point… every time he's around, Kim seems to be performing twice as well."

"They're friends. He supports her." Victor replied.

"Maybe so… I hope high school won't eventually destroy their friendship though." Cathy knew all too well how the difference between boys and girls in high school could disrupt lifelong friendships.

* * *

"Will Rufus really be up for it?" Kim asked; she had seen the mole rat perform pretty amazing feats and he had matured quite a bit from the tiny and slightly ugly creature he was when Ron had just bought him, but this was a different matter than negotiating a maze that Ron made.

"Of course," Ron said confidently. "Especially when there is a nacho waiting for him."

Kim frowned; she was not sure how good it was to feed animals human food in general, and Bueno Nacho food in particular, but Rufus hadn't seemed to fare any worse for it. "Okay then, good luck Rufus."

However, the naked mole rat returned after only a short while.

"There is a steel grate in the way," Ron announced after a short chat with Rufus, "but Rufus thinks the ventilation shaft is stable."

"For a rodent perhaps," Walter objected when he noticed Kim stepping forward to offer once again to crawl down there. "I'm not going to risk anyone in such a dangerous spot."

"The ventilation shaft is pretty much straight, right?" Kim asked. "Then you can pull me back when something is wrong."

"We could keep contact with a wired radio," Cathy suggested; they had already looked into the shaft before Rufus entered, and it did look fairly stable for the first part. The woman turned to Kim. "But the moment you feel that something is wrong, signal for us to pull you back, okay?"

Kim smiled, eager to help the poor boy that was trapped in the basement. "Of course."

* * *

"Okay, this is tighter than I expected," Kim muttered as she snaked through the ventilation shaft; she couldn't even properly crawl through. "Good thing I'm not doing this on a daily basis."

"Are you okay?" Walter asked through the radio set.

"Still doing fine," Kim said, somewhat louder so she could be heard through the facemask she wore to keep most of the dust away from her mouth and nose. "I think I'm halfway to the basement now, and I see the grate ahead."

The grate was a fine mesh of metal, clearly designed to keep rodents and insects out of the ventilation system, so it was no wonder that Rufus was blocked by it.

For Kim, the grate was an object she easily removed, even in her current position with her arms stretched out in front of her. "I removed the grate. There is a ceiling grate ahead."

"If you can climb out of that one, you should be in the basement," Walter said.

* * *

Wade was scared.

Strangely, the fact that a part of the basement he was in had collapsed, trapping him inside, was not the thing that scared him. He hated being outside, and he really enjoyed just being by himself.

The risk of more of the basement collapsing was also not scaring the boy; he had already run some calculations on his computers – which were far more advanced than his parents could even dream of – and the basement would hold easily, with the exception of some cracks in the wall.

What scared Wade was the thought that at any moment firemen, or worse, the police, would walk into the basement to rescue him. And then they would see what he was and what he did.

Wade was a genius. Even amongst geniuses he would stand out. But he was also an eight-year-old boy. And that conflicting data usually brought out the worst in some people.

Because of his agoraphobia and difficulty to connect to other people, his parents had home-schooled him, but he had quickly surpassed them and taken up online courses instead. Fortunately, the system that regulated his home-schooling cared mainly for exam results, and as long as those remained perfect, no one would interfere.

In fact, using this system, Wade had already graduated high school and was currently following university courses – all of this under an alias because he didn't want too much attention.

Another part of Wade's life consisted of hacking. Not the run off the mill stuff like writing programs to create botnets or trying to gain someone's personal data. Wade sought challenge in breaking into highly secured data, like government and defense computers, secret laboratories, and more like that.

As it were, he was part of a 'hacker's guild' that did all these kinds of things. Not to obtain the information, but just to show that they could break in; every hacker left a nearly undetectable marker that indicated his or her success to the other hackers – much like the 'I was here' that was written in graffiti on several locations. Wade was without doubt the best hacker of the guild.

But no one knew who he was, and the only evidence for that was in this very room. His parents might think he was just pretty good with computers and technical equipment, but an expert would immediately see him for what he was.

And that made Wade very scared.

Even erasing his data – something he was loath to do – wouldn't help much as he didn't have the time to do it thoroughly, and he would never be able to properly destroy the computers and technologies he was working on in time.

And now voices were coming through the ventilation system, making it clear that his 'rescuers' would be arriving soon.

And there wasn't much Wade could do about it.

* * *

When the grate of the ventilation system finally did open and a girl who couldn't be older than fifteen made her way out, Wade couldn't be more surprised, or relieved.

"The radio cable got stuck on the last corner," the redhead spoke into the radio device she held in her hand as she tried to squirm out of the ventilation shaft. "I'll talk to you guys in a minute… hey, you must be Wade."

The boy stared slack-jawed at the girl as she looked at him from her upside-down position. She then worked herself all the way out through the small grate opening and made a half somersault before landing gracefully on her feet.

Mistaking Wade's awe for being afraid, Kim quickly walked over to the boy. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here in no time."

Wade flinched a bit as Kim approached, startling the girl. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Kim Possible, I'm with the fire department. We're going to get you out of here in no time." She repeated the last part because she didn't really know what more to say.

"I… eh…" Wade started as he slowly regained control over his voice. "I'm Wade… you already know that. Uhm… thanks."

Even though the nice girl in front of him had taken him aback a bit Wade was glad that no one with any knowledge of computers and technology had entered.

His hope was quickly shattered when Kim frowned and looked around. "What is this stuff anyway?"

Before Wade could even come up with an answer, he was even more shocked when the redhead began correctly naming several of his highly advanced pieces of technology.

"Electronic lock overrides? A jamming device? _EMP_ generators? Seriously, what _is_ all this?"

Wade began stammering for an answer, but then Kim took a look at the programs that were still running on his computer – Wade just couldn't help himself, even in a partially collapsed basement. "You're running _hacking_ software?"

Unable to answer any of the – correct – accusations, Wade burst out the only question he was able to ask. "How do you know all this?"

Kim shrugged. "I've got two brothers just like this. The only difference is that they are more into rockets."

Wade knew he was busted; he had completely and utterly underestimated this girl and now his game was over. He bowed his head and reverted back to the eight-year-old boy he was. "Please don't tell anyone…"

Kim sighed and was silent for a while, seemingly in thought. Then she looked at Wade again. "Have you ever even thought about the ethical ramifications of this?"

"I'm not doing any harm," the boy hastened to say. "I'm just… I'm just curious; I want to know what's behind a closed door. I always make sure not to damage anything or hurt someone's privacy."

"Well, it's still wrong to break in somewhere, even if it doesn't hurt someone personally," Kim replied.

"But… if they have a weakness in their system that allows me to get in and I call them on it, is that so bad?" Wade asked hopefully.

Kim frowned. "I don't know, wouldn't telling them be enough?"

Wade sighed. "Been there, done that. They don't believe any message you send, and I certainly wouldn't try to call them as myself."

"I can empathize with that," Kim said. "So… does it work the way you do it?"

"Partly," Wade admitted. "They threaten to sue me and try to locate me for a while after I pointed out their flaws by using it against them… you know, like leaving a note in a room saying: 'your lock isn't the best.'"

At that moment, the radio, which Kim had left hanging in the open ventilation shaft, crackled. "Kim, are you still there?"

Wade watched Kim rush to the radio with a sense of apprehension; what she would say next might very well lead to him being locked up for the rest of his life in some secure government-run center.

But to his surprise and relief, Kim did not rat him out. "I'm still here, and so is Wade. We're both okay; this section of the basement is still pretty much intact. Wade's… workbench, or whatever it is he disassembled his toys on seems to have taken the brunt of the hit."

Wade's hopeful expression fell when Kim's last sentence hit home. And as Kim began describing the buildup of the basement from the inside so the firemen knew where to drill, Wade looked at his gadgets – almost his friends – with a sad feeling. "_Well, maybe there is some poetic justice to it, but it still stinks._"

Kim turned around. "Okay, how can we best make your gadgets appear broken and mundane?"

Wade found himself staring at the redhead again; she kept surprising him. But then a smile formed on his face. "You're- you're letting me get away with it?"

Kim grinned. "Yeah, although I'm going to keep watch on you. If I hear about a hacker breaking into secure systems, you'll be the first I suspect."

Wade's smile didn't waver. "Thanks, you don't know how much that means to me."

Kim was still amazed at the apparent disparity between the boy that Wade was and his more mature side. But she quickly snapped out of it when Wade began instructing her on how to set up the 'damage.'

* * *

Once they knew where to dig, it became easy for the firemen to get Wade and Kim out of the basement, even though it caused another section to collapse. But since the whole thing had to be dug out anyway it wasn't a big deal.

"Wade!" Wade's mother pulled him into a tight hug. "You're okay!"

"M-o-m," Wade complained, already uncomfortable with so many people around.

Mrs. Load then turned to Kim. "Thank you so much for saving our son, we owe you big time."

Kim smiled. "No big, it was only a matter of crawling through thirty feet of ventilation shaft and pointing out a safe location to dig us out."

"Seems like your toys got busted pretty bad though," Mr. Load observed after taking a look inside the basement.

Wade shot a glance at Kim, but then smiled. "That's no problem dad, I'm sure I can rebuild them."

* * *

"That was really cool how you did that," Ron exclaimed on the way home. Walter had dismissed his class shortly after Wade was rescued from the basement. The firemen didn't have much to do there anymore and it was already getting late.

Kim smirked. "I just hope I never have to crawl through ventilation shafts again. Those spy movies are way overrated."

Kim had, for the time being, decided against telling Ron about what happened in the basement; in his enthusiasm he might hurt Wade more than do him good. "_Besides, it's not like I will hear much from Wade again. I doubt he'll risk involving me again with what I know… heh, that sounds like a corny movie."_

What's so funny KP?" Ron asked when he noticed Kim's grin.

"Oh, nothing," Kim replied. "It's just nice to know my brothers aren't on the top for everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked in confusion. "I'm supposed to be the weird one."

* * *

"How's firefighting training going?" Ron asked. It had been a few weeks since Kim had helped rescue Wade from the collapsed basement. Firefighting training had kept going, and soon it would be time for entry exams that qualified the trainees to actually help out.

"Training is going well," Kim replied, "but I doubt I'm allowed to do the exams this year. Apparently I'm too young. But the rules aren't entirely clear on that, so Walter and Cathy have decided to look into it."

"Well, at least you can help out next year," Ron offered. "And then you'll be even more prepared."

Kim smiled. "Yeah, but I really want to help now. I mean, if anything had happened to me when I crawled through that ventilation shaft, or before, with the burning house, the insurance company wouldn't have paid a cent. Even worse, what I did was actually not even entirely legal."

"Oh…" Ron was clearly taken aback by that. "Well, you can at least help out with the small stuff, right?"

"Yeah, but…" at this point Kim blushed a bit and looked down. "I actually kinda liked the action. I know it was dangerous, but… I don't know how to explain it."

Ron smiled. "I think I know what you mean."

"You do?" Kim asked, surprised.

"Hey, we've been friends for most of our lifetimes. I think I know you."

Kim couldn't help but smile. "I guess you're right."

"So, heard anything from Wade?" Ron then asked.

Kim shrugged. "His parents sent a card, but apparently Wade's agoraphobia hit a bit hard when he left the basement. His parents told me he stays in his bedroom most of the time now."

Ron shuddered. "I can't believe someone wouldn't want to get out sometime."

Kim grinned. "You and me both. So, want to go to the park?"

"Nah." Ron gestured dismissively. "_The Fearless Ferret_ is on in a moment."

* * *

"Kimmie, you have mail," Kim's mother said as Kim returned from Ron's home; she wasn't really feeling like watching _The Fearless Ferret_ and she still had some homework to do.

Kim accepted the small package from her mother. "Who could this be from?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible shrugged. "I have no idea. There is no return address." Then she gave her daughter a quick peck on the cheek. "I have to go. I'm already late for my shift. There are microwave meals in the fridge."

"Those I can handle," Kim muttered as her mother left; after she had forgotten several times to put out the stove when reheating a meal, Mrs. Dr. Possible didn't leave her daughter in charge of reheating meals anymore unless there was a timer involved.

Curious about the package, Kim took it up to her room and opened it.

Inside was a fairly large cell phone-like device with a decent looking screen and a lot of buttons – most of which Kim had no idea what they were supposed to do.

The largest button had a small note attached to it, saying "Press me."

Immediately suspicious of a prank her brothers had concocted, Kim went down to the garage and pressed the button from a distance.

The screen quickly came alive and Wade's face appeared.

Kim stared in surprise for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "Wade?"

"Hey Kim," the boy greeted her enthusiastically. "How do you like this? It's my thank you for saving me… and not telling anyone on me," he added in a softer voice.

"Wow, I..." Kim was a bit at a loss for words for a moment. "Thanks."

Wade smiled. "It took me a while to make it but get this, you can use it for video calls, free calls around the world, browsing the Internet and you can even watch TV on it."

Kim frowned. "Is it legal to use the bandwidth like that?"

Wade chuckled. "Don't worry, I helped some guys at the network distribution and they gave me a couple of free accounts to use."

Kim had been saving for a cell phone for a while – her parents' policy was 'if you want a cell phone, you have to pay for it yourself' – so Wade's gift really came in handy. "Thanks again. So, what's it called? It doesn't really look like a cell phone anymore."

Now Wade began smile proudly. "Calling this a cell phone would be like calling the Encyclopedia Britannica just a book. It has lots of features; you can look at the list and the quick codes when you press 'E5.'"

"As for the name…" At this point Wade began to blush a bit. "It's a communicator, and it's for you, so I was thinking of calling it a Kimmunicator."

"_Great, if she didn't think you were a geek, she's sure of it now,_" Wade thought after he just said that.

But to his surprise, Kim smiled happily. "I like that name, you rock Wade."

* * *

After Kim closed the connection to check out the features of the Kimmunicator – Wade knew because he could still monitor the device functioning – Wade felt a bit light-headed. No one had acknowledged him like that ever before. Even his parents didn't seem to fully know what he was capable of.

He knew that what he felt for Kim was not boy and girl love, but deep down he did feel something of a crush for this girl.

He hoped they would stay in contact; at least his gift would keep that door open.

* * *

"This is incredible," Kim muttered as she tried out some of the features of the Kimmunicator.

"What is?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked as he walked into the living room, closely followed by Jim and Tim. Kim had been so focused she hadn't heard them enter.

"Nothing." Kim quickly hid the device. The one thing she didn't want to happen was her brothers finding out about it and trying to dissect it. "Mom left us some microwave meals in the fridge. I'll be right back down."

Mr. Dr. Possible watched, confused, as Kim ran up the stairs, but then he shrugged; his wife was better at understanding their daughter anyway. "Well boys, let's see what mom left for us."

* * *

The next day, when Ron passed by the Possible residence, Kim was once again toying with the Kimmunicator.

"Hey KP, what have you got there? Some kind of game?"

Kim looked up. "Sort of… it does have games on it."

Ron sat down next to his friend and looked at the Kimunicator. "Whoa, did Jim and Tim make this?"

Kim huffed. "As if." Then she was silent for a moment. "Ron, there is something I haven't told you before, but you can't tell it to anyone else, promise?"

"Sure," Ron replied. "What is it?"

"I mean it," Kim said. "If you told anyone, it could spell big trouble for someone."

Ron frowned. "Okay, you're starting to make less sense."

Kim glared at him.

"Okay, okay." Ron held up his hands defensively. "I promise not to tell anyone."

Kim's smile returned. "Well, when you asked if my brothers made this, you weren't too far off…"

"Wow…" was all Ron could say for a moment after Kim told him what really happened during Wade's rescue.

"So he's like a super genius?" he then asked.

"Pretty much," Kim agreed. "But the rest of the world would see him as a freak when they found out."

Ron sighed. "Yeah, I know how that feels…"

Kim smirked. "Really?"

"Hey, just because I'm not a genius is no reason for people not to like my nonconformism." Ron defended himself.

"Do you even know what that means?" Kim asked.

"Well, a bit. My parents say it sometimes when I do my 'never be normal' thing."

Kim shrugged. "Fair enough, I guess the world could do with a little less prejudice."

At that moment, Jim and Tim walked into the living room. "Hey sis…"

"…What do you have there?"

"Nothing that's for you," Kim said in a warning tone. "You'll just break it anyway."

"Aw."

"We just want to know what it is."

"No!" Kim held the Kimmunicator protectively. "Before I know it, you'll think it's yours and start messing with it."

"But what is it?" Jim insisted.

"Forget it tweebs." Kim stood up and walked to the stairs. "Let's go Ron."

"Tweebs?" Tim asked in confusion.

"Twin dweebs. Tweebs!" Kim cried out.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked on the way up to Kim's room.

"Jim and Tim always want to open up any technology in the house," Kim replied. "I'm not letting them have this… they'll never get it back in working order."

"But isn't Wade about their age…" Ron started.

"Ron, would you ever lend Jim and Tim your Z-boy?" Km interrupted.

Ron thought for a moment. "Okay, point taken. But aren't you being a bit too harsh on them?"

"They're getting way too curious about my stuff," Kim said in a tone that made it clear this discussion was closed.

Ron frowned; Jim and Tim hadn't gotten any more curious than previously. But he decided to let the issue go. His mother had told him that Kim might be going through some changes that would put a strain on their friendship and he didn't want to put more incentive on that.

Noticing Ron's slight hesitation, Kim turned around and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. Besides, we don't have many secrets from each other, right?"

"Yeah." Ron smiled and followed Kim up to her room. It seemed that whatever changes Kim went through, the bad effects only applied to her brothers. "_Well, better them than me_."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, it seems the gang is all set up. I hope you enjoyed it. I know it's been a while since I updated, but I hope to get back to my normal pace soon.


	5. Keeping up

Thanks everyone for reviewing, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter and giving me some great suggestions.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Keeping up**

"Kimmie, I'm really proud that they let you do the firefighting exam, but aren't you pressing yourself too much?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked when she walked in on her daughter studying for the upcoming test.

Kim looked up from her work. "Mom, Walter put in a lot of effort to get me in, and I want to prove that I can handle it. So I really want to do good on this exam."

The elder redhead sighed; when her daughter put herself to something, she could be really headstrong about it. "Just don't overwork yourself, okay? You'll be one of the youngest even to attend there, so there's no shame if you're not yet up to it."

"I know," Kim replied. "And I also know it won't get me into more action," she added, with a slight frown. "It will be at least another year before I even qualify age-wise." Her smile brightened again. "But I don't want to disappoint Walter and the guys, they really did a lot to allow me to even do this exam. And if I pass, I can join in with the Fire Fighting 1 course this summer instead of having to wait a year."

"Alright," Kim's mother conceded with a slight smile. "Just remember to do some other things in between, or you'll forget half of what you've learned and stress out even more."

* * *

"Good morning Mrs. Dr. P," Ron greeted Kim's mother as she walked downstairs from Kim's room. "Is KP upstairs?"

"Yes, but she's studying," Mrs. Dr. Possible replied with a small grin, already knowing how much that would shock Ron.

She wasn't disappointed. "Studying? It's a Saturday! How… why?"

"It's for the firefighter exam."

"Oh, I see." Ron visibly relaxed. "But won't she already ace it? I mean, I've seen the results on the test exams…"

"I just want to make sure I score good," Kim said as she walked downstairs after hearing the conversation. "Besides, I want to put Victor in his place," she added with a slight smirk. "He's been bragging a lot about how easy this kind of thing was when he was just starting. And Cathy and Brigitte really want someone to put him in his place."

"But, um, you have time to hang out, right?" Ron asked. "I mean, yesterday didn't work out either."

"Yeah, sorry," Kim responded; their usual 'hanging out' evening had been lost somewhat lately due to her preparing for the exams, both written and physical. She looked at her room where her homework was. "I, uh… how about in an hour or so?"

Ron gave a weak smile. "That's fine. I'll wait for you then."

* * *

Kim tried to focus on the theory, but her guilt over ditching Ron kept distracting her.

"He knows I need to study this," she muttered to herself, trying to still her conscience. "Besides, it's not like we were actually going to be doing something."  
Of course, none of her rationalizations worked; Ron was her best friend and Kim was leaving him hanging for a test she would probably ace with half the studying she put in so far.

But on the other hand, there were her friends at the fire station. Walter, who seemed to have full confidence in her. Victor, whose joking rivalry with everyone at the station was always amusing. And Cathy and Brigitte, who supported her and worked hard to have her step up and be a confident woman in a male-dominated environment.

And combining the two hadn't really worked so far since Ron wasn't much into exercise. And quite frankly, Kim had the idea that Ron was a bit scared of an up-close fire.

The redhead sighed; sometimes it was really difficult to make everyone happy.

* * *

"What's gotten you down Kim?" Cathy asked; she was on guard at the fire station and had noticed the teen's mood quickly after Kim entered to go through some final preparations for the exam next weekend.

Kim looked up from her work. "Did you ever have to chose between working at the fire station and your own life?"

Cathy smirked. "Only about three times a week. It's a good thing my husband can take it." She then turned more serious. "What happened?"

Kim sighed. "Preparing for the exam, but also becoming a firefighter… it gives me the feeling I'm drifting away from some of my friends."

"You mean Ron?" Cathy asked, getting straight to the point.

The redhead nodded. "Last Friday, our usual hanging out time, I was too busy preparing for the exam and completely forgot the time. And yesterday, Ron came by to make up for the lost time, but I pretty much waved him off. We did hang out for a bit, but…" she fell back into silence.

Cathy nodded understandingly. "Sometimes it's difficult to combine those two. And believe me, being a firefighter and having a love life will only get worse as you grow older."

Kim looked at the older woman confused. "It's not like Ron and I are dating. It's just… we've known each other a long time, and we do stuff together." She was silent for a moment as she searched for words. "Ron isn't so much into physical activities, and… well, you know how he was when we had that training."

Cathy chuckled; Ron had been pretty excited about seeing close-up firefighting… right until the fire was lit and the rolling wave of heat had – in his own words – nearly roasted him.

"Anyway," Kim continued, "I'm afraid this is causing me to see Ron a lot less."

"You'll have to make your own decisions on that," Cathy replied. "But you know this is only for a couple of weeks, right? I mean, the two of you have been separated for more than two or three weeks at a time, haven't you?"

Kim frowned in thought. "Actually, the only time I can remember we didn't see each other for more than a week was when we both went to different summer camps… That wasn't a fun summer."

Cathy raised her eyebrows. "Really, not even on other vacations?"

"No," Kim said. "With mom and dad's jobs, we didn't go far away on vacation anyway, and Ron's parents aren't much for traveling either. And the few times we did go on vacation, Ron joined us or I joined him."

Cathy took a moment to take that in. "Wow… no wonder you're starting to miss him already."

"Yeah." Kim sighed. "I just wish we had some more activities in common. I mean, he likes video games and watching TV, and I like sports, martial arts and outdoor activities. But I can't really think of a way to figure out some more common ground."

"Why not ask him?" Brigitte asked.

Kim turned around to see the dark-skinned woman. "Oh, hey, I didn't even hear you enter." She thought a moment about the suggestion. "I don't know though…"

Brigitte grinned. "I mean it, he's at the front door, asking if you're in."

"Oh," Kim quickly ran to the entrance of the building.

Brigitte chuckled and turned to her cousin. "Still in full denial?"

Cathy shrugged. "I'm still betting on a mental block preventing them from seeing the obvious."

* * *

"Hey Ron," Kim said as she spotted her best friend.

"KP," Ron returned the greeting enthusiastically, but Kim could tell he had something on his mind.

It didn't take long before Ron got it out in the open. "You know, I may have been trying to hog your time lately a bit… I know you want to do good on that exam."

"Ron, that's not true," Kim replied, her guilt over having ditched her friend tripling in mere moments. "I've been obsessing over it way too much. I know I will pass… but I also know that that would mean me spending most of the summer in the FF-1 course."

Ron frowned. "The what again?"

Kim smiled. "You know, the fire fighting course. Once I get that certificate, I can really help out here."

"Oh yeah, I forgot it had that abbreviation," Ron said. "Anyway, I figured maybe I could help you with preparing or something. That way we won't feel bad for ditching each other, and you'll finish sooner so we have more us time."

Kim smiled at her friend's reasoning. "That does sound like a good idea. Why didn't we think of that sooner?"

"Because it still means a lot of work for me?" Ron asked jokingly.

Kim grinned maliciously. "It won't be that bad. You'll just have to run alongside me during the obstacle course, and you have to know most of the material for the test to properly question me on it."

Ron gulped. "Any chance I can take back my offer?"

* * *

"Kimmie, you should really stop stressing," Mrs. Dr. Possible said. "You did the exam well, and you know it. And you are physically more than fit enough to take that fire fighting course."

Kim sighed. "I know, but why does it have to take them so long to mail the results?"

Kim's mother chuckled; Kim had done the exam the day before, and it would take two or three days before the results were published.

"They do that just to mess with you," Ron said as he helped himself to some more sandwiches. "The only time they'll let you know immediately is when you failed."

Kim chuckled at her friend's comment. "Well, I guess I don't have to worry then." But she couldn't help feeling even more apprehensive now.

"Kimmie," her mother then said. "Just relax and let it go. Even in the unlikely event that you didn't do as well, there isn't anything you can do about it anyway. Why don't the two of you go outside and do something to take your mind off that exam?"

"So, what takes your mind off exams usually?" Kim asked. "Normally, you're the one stressing about exam results."

Ron grimaced. "I only stress about exams that may lower my average so much that Mr. B wants to have a talk. And at those times, thinking about that talk pretty much occupies my entire mind."

Kim chuckled. "You could consider getting your average up."

She immediately regretted her comment when Ron put up his 'explain why what I do is not weird' face. "Kim, Kim, Kim… I have a steady C-average now and I can hold this up without too much effort. If I'm putting in a lot of effort to get a B-average I'll have to keep up that average or I will still get 'the talk' when I revert back to C's. So it gains me nothing but a lot of effort."

"Ron!" Kim looked at her friend with as much sternness as she could. "High School isn't pass/fail, your results matter for the future. Think about how many good universities would want C-grade students."

"KP, that's three years from now," Ron replied. "If you worry about that already, how bad will it be in our senior year?"

"Well, less so," Kim muttered. "Because I will be prepared by then."

"Okay," Ron conceded. "Maybe I will try to do something about my grades… just not right now, we're only in freshman year after all."

Kim sighed. "Suit yourself, but don't come complaining to me when you'll be the only senior in Health Class."

Ron shrugged. "It was optional this year, and I had other things to do. I'll catch up next year, no sweat."

Kim just shook her head; sometimes there was just no arguing with Ron.

* * *

"If you want, I can look up whether you passed the exam," Wade suggested. He had remained in touch with Kim by means of the Kimmunicator over the past few weeks and had shown a surprising interest in her starting firefighting career.

"Isn't that illegal?" Kim asked; she was still getting used to the boy's seeming lack of regard for authority whenever he sat behind a computer.

Wade shrugged. "I'm pretty sure they have the results already. You could also send an e-mail asking for the results. But that'll take ages to get back to you, probably even more than a day."

Kim chuckled; another curious thing about Wade was the different way he looked at time. When she had been preparing for the exam, he had offered to help her find some extra information, but he had also said it could take a while before he got it. Eventually he had delivered the information within five minutes, and he had even apologized for it taking so long because the server of the site he had found the information on was slow.

"I'll settle for a day waiting, please and thank you," she replied. "It still beats waiting for even longer before they send the results themselves though."

* * *

"Someone looks awfully smug," Victor commented when Kim walked into the fire station for the regular Saturday training run. "I assume you passed the fire safety exam?"

"It was no big," Kim said. "I never doubted I wouldn't have made it."

The fireman smirked. "Hm-hm, sure. And Cathy has a secret crush on me. We could have actually used you as a prime example of what stress and anxiety does to some people."

Kim stuck out her tongue. "You're just jealous because back in the day you didn't do as well."

Victor grinned. "Back in the day we didn't have to do those exams, they're just for the newbies."

"And I bet even after years of experience you won't be able to pass it," Cathy said as she walked up behind Victor. "Congratulations Kim."

"Your words, they hurt," Victor replied with a mock-hurt expression, but all he got in return was an amused huff from his colleague. "What? Not even an apology?" He sighed theatrically. "Fine… But still, you did a great job Kim. Can't wait to have you working here on full service. At least I've got some real challenge on the training now."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that," Cathy scolded. "I'll have you choke on my dust."

Kim just grinned as the two firefighters walked off, continuingly trying to best each other in mock insults.

* * *

"Can you imagine? Two more weeks and we're no longer freshmen," Ron said enthusiastically as he and Kim walked into the school building. "No longer being at the bottom of the student body. We're moving up in this world."

"Dramatic much?" Kim replied with a grin. "First of all, it wasn't that bad. And second, do you really think we'll get it any easier next year?"

"Why do you always have to ruin this?" Ron grumbled half-heartedly.

Kim gave her friend a gentle push. "Because otherwise you psych things up way too much… don't worry, next year will be good, and let's not forget the summer vacation."

Ron's smile returned. "Yeah, that's right. No school for months. BOOYAH!"

"Not if you fail this week's tests," Mr. Barkin spoke up from right behind them, startling the duo. "If you do, you will spend that time in summer class."

Ron gulped as the vice principal walked off. "Did he just grin when he said that? I'm telling you KP, he's out to get me."

Kim sighed and rolled her eyes. "I've been telling you that letting your grades slip will have consequences."

"Yeah, but I didn't think it would include summer class," Ron said; now starting to panic. "You've got to help me KP."

"All right," Kim agreed. "We can study together after school."

"Thanks KP," Ron said before Kim headed over to her locker. "But I actually kinda meant you sit next to me on the tests," he muttered low enough so she couldn't hear him.

* * *

"You all did great this year," Julie said to the assembly of cheerleaders. "And now we have one more event to go to end the school year with, and we're going to make it terrific."

The cheerleaders did what they did best and cheered in agreement, some even waving the pom-pons they had already picked up before practice.

"But there is another thing I want to address," the cheerleading captain continued. "Since I'm a senior and won't be here next year, you have to vote for a new captain."

"Don't worry," she quickly added after seeing the expression of her teammates. "You don't have to vote right now. We'll do that the day before the last event, so I can properly hand over the stick to my successor then. And remember, it's the captain's duty to prepare the team for the start of the new school year, so don't hesitate to ask for help from the other cheerleaders."

* * *

"So, do you know who to vote for?" Tara asked Kim after practice.

"Not really," Kim admitted. "Most of the girls who will be seniors next year have already said they wanted to focus only on the senior team, and several girls will be leaving."

"Yeah, it was a good thing Julie wanted to lead both cheerleading squads last year," Hope agreed.

"Well, what's holding us back from entering?" Bonnie asked. "I know I'm going to put in my name."

"We'll only be sophomores," Kim objected. "What chance do you think we have? And besides, it's a lot of work."

"So? I can handle that," Bonnie replied. "Can you?"

Kim thought of something to reply to the brunette, but she knew firefighting training would take up way too much time to seriously deal with being the cheerleading captain, even if it were only of the junior team.

"Well, good luck with that," she finally said, just to have some response. "Because you'll have to order around girls from junior year."

But somehow, Kim got the feeling that ordering around older girls was something Bonnie wouldn't have a problem with. It even seemed like the brunette was reveling at the chance to do so. Maybe it had to do with her being the youngest at home.

* * *

"Aw, come on KP, we've been working for hours. Can't you at least let me copy that last part of our homework," Ron begged. "That way I still have some time to prepare a bit for the quiz."

"Ron, you can't keep copying off me forever, you know," Kim replied, although she had to admit that Ron had worked hard for a change. She knew she was more driven to making her schoolwork shine than most of her classmates, but Ron had always tried to get by with the least amount of effort possible.

After he looked at her desperately, she sighed. "Fine, you can copy the second half of your homework from me… if you actually did put effort into the first half."

"Ah KP, you know me," Ron said, earning him a smirk from his friend.

"I do, so I'll check your work first."

But – somewhat to Kim's surprise – Ron had actually finished quite a lot of his homework, although it could have been because she had threatened to put away the snacks until he started working on it.

"Alright, you can copy my half," she conceded. "But don't expect me to help you out if the same thing happens next year."

"It won't KP," Ron said as he quickly began scribbling over Kim's notes, afraid she might still change her mind. "I learned my lesson."

Kim frowned; she knew Ron would slack off again. But somehow, whenever he got completely panicked when he was going to fail yet another deadline, she didn't have the heart to deny him. And he did try hard when he really, really had to.

"_Only wish he had that motivation all the time,"_ Kim thought as her friend copied her homework.

* * *

"Possible, good job, A minus. King, also very good, B plus," Mr. Barkin said as he handed out the results of the last test for the school year. Then he turned to Ron. "Stoppable…"

Ron shrank under the teacher's gaze.

"…Surprisingly good, also a B plus." However, the large man's glare did not waver. "Your homework looks very much like Possible's…"

"We worked on it together," Ron squeaked nervously.

Mr. Barkin glared for a moment longer at the blond boy, who stared back with a nervous smile plastered on his face. "All right then. Next time also work together on the first part. She's having a good influence on you."

* * *

After the class was dismissed, both Kim and Ron sighed in relief. "That's the last time I'm covering for you, Ron," Kim huffed. "Couldn't you at least change some of the text?"

"I was in a hurry," Ron whined. "You were rushing me, and you were refusing me snackage."

Kim frowned. "I didn't want you to litter all over my homework." Then she smiled. "Still, good work on the B plus. See that actually studying helped?"

"Kim. Practice." Bonnie said in her usual demanding tone as she walked past the two.

Kim smirked. "You're no captain yet Bonnie." But she did turn and walk after the brunette to the gym. "See you later Ron." she called over her shoulder.

* * *

"Great practice everyone," Julie said. "We will blow the crowd away tomorrow. Now, I hope you've all been thinking about who should be the next captain. For the senior team we only have one candidate, Sandra." The mentioned girl stepped forward.

Julie continued. "Sandra has some experience since she has been helping me during the last semester, so if there is no one objecting to Sandra becoming captain, she will take over for me."

No objections were heard.

Julie smiled at Sandra. "You will do great." Then she turned back to the other cheerleaders. "However, leading both the junior and senior team is a hefty task… I know firsthand. We have three candidates for the junior team: Cassandra, Bonnie and Alex."

Bonnie and Alex stepped forward, but Cassandra looked at Julie with a bewildered stare. "Didn't you read the note I put in your locker? I… uhm…" She smiled slyly. "I've been offered a chance to skip a class, but I'll have to take summer classes, so I can't help out for the first part of the next school year."

Several girls congratulated Cassandra, other were just dumbfounded that someone would voluntarily take summer classes.

Julie smiled warmly. "Congratulations, and good luck, cause senior year won't be easy. Still, we have to vote between Bonnie and Alex, so, everyone in favor of Alex becoming captain?"

Several girls raised their hands.

Julie counted the votes. "Okay… everyone in favor of Bonnie becoming captain?"

Most of the other girls raised their hands.

Julie frowned. "Uhm… we have a tie, and an odd number of voters. Who didn't vote?"

To Julie's surprise, instead of one, three hands were raised; Tara, Kim and Cassandra hadn't voted.

Tara looked nervously at Julie. "Sorry, I meant to vote for Bonnie. I… I guess I didn't raise my hand so much."

Julie nodded; she knew Tara could be quite shy sometimes. She turned to the other girls. "Cassandra, even if you don't want to become captain, you can still vote for one."

"Can I? Okay, I'll vote for Alex then," the girl said. "She's been a good friend and I know she can do it."

"Kim?" Julie asked as she looked at the redhead. "I know you don't have to vote, but you're kind of the tie-breaker here."

Kim glanced nervously at the expectant looks around her. "_Why did I hesitate? I should have just voted for… ugh, that's why, I really don't know."_

On the one hand, Alex was a more experienced cheerleader. Also, Bonnie could be quite bossy, and Kim wasn't sure giving the brunette more power was the best idea. But on the other hand, Bonnie was dedicated to bringing the team to a great performance, even if it was mainly to get into the spotlight herself. And maybe some responsibility would be good for her.

"Kim?" Julie frowned and waved her hand in front of the redhead. "Are you okay?"

Kim snapped out of her contemplations. "Yeah, sorry… I'll, eh… I'll vote for Bonnie."

Julie blinked in surprise, and even Bonnie was clearly shocked for a moment, but then a huge smile – or maybe a grin, Kim wasn't sure – broke out on the brunette's face. "Yes! Uh… I mean, I'm sorry Alex, but I will do my best to be the best captain I can be."

* * *

"So you voted for Bonnie?" Ron asked, still not really understanding why his friend would do such a thing.

"I did," Kim admitted. "I'm still not entirely sure why myself either. But… well… maybe it will be good for her."

"To be able to dictate to you and the other cheerleaders?" Ron responded with a frown.

"Ron, Bonnie isn't that bad," Kim objected. "Besides, if she's really becoming a 'dictator,' she will be thrown off just as quickly."

Ron shrugged. "I hope you're right then. So, do you have any real vacation time left with that firefighter training you are doing?" he asked, changing the subject.

Kim smirked. "You make it sound like I will be locked up inside studying all the time. First of all, it's only four days a week, and not even full days. And second, most of it will be practical training. Everyone has already proven they've got the theory down."

"Well, good!" Ron said. Then his face grew questioning. "But, can I be of any help then?" Ron asked. "You know I can't keep up with you, even when you're doing the hurdles and I'm just running to the side of the course."

Kim shrugged. "We'll figure something out."

"This is not what I meant," Ron gasped between breaths as he tried to keep up with Kim.

Kim looked over her shoulder and grinned. "You basically said you wanted to be able to keep up with me when I was training. Morning runs are perfect for that."

"But…" Ron took another breath. "…You're training now too."

Kim slowed down a bit so she ran alongside Ron. "For you it's training. For me it's just a morning run. You should have picked it up when I started."

Even though Kim had always been fairly active, she had started jogging and some fitness training shortly after taking up martial arts.

Ron had never been much of a sport; he had tried several times to join Kim in some activities, but he was never really committed.

"I'll catch up with you when you finish your round through the park," Ron said as he slumped down on a bench near the entrance to Middleton Park.

"Okay, see you in ten," Kim replied and started picking up speed.

* * *

Ron watched his friend run off. He would never understand Kim's need to excel at whatever she did and drive to train where she could still improve. To him, you either had skill for something or you didn't, there was no need to push yourself.

"_So if that's true, why are you training with KP now?" _he silently asked himself.

The answer was that he truly didn't know, but it felt good. He had missed hanging out with Kim ever since she got more involved both in school activities and with firefighting. And training, or even doing homework together, got that back somehow.

Ron smiled slightly when he saw Kim running in his direction again. "_I may not be able to keep up with you, but I can surely follow you while trying."_

"Caught your breath yet?" the redhead asked with a smile as she slowed down so Ron could match her speed as he got running again.

"You betcha KP."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope to increase my posting frequency a bit, but I can't promis anything.


	6. An Impossible Fire

Thanks everyone for reviewing, I'm very sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter. And thanks everyone for voting for this story.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 5: An Impossible Fire**

"Congratulations to all of you for passing the Firefighter 1 Academy," Walter said proudly, standing in full uniform – except his helmet – in front of the firefighter students. "Once again we had a 100% pass score. I'm proud to hand you the Firefighter 1 Academy completion certificate and welcome you to the firefighting crew in the Tri-City area, and I hope you will all become fine firefighters in your respective towns."

Kim beamed as she stood in the line, waiting to receive her certificate. She smiled at her parents and Ron, standing with the other family and friends. Her best friend waved at her, but short of a smile and a nod, Kim didn't want to attract too much attention.

Being the youngest person to have passed the Academy, and female to add, she had already received more attention than she was comfortable handling. Of course, everyone had been really positive about her achievement, but standing in the limelight like that made her feel really self-conscious.

Being the youngest member of the firefighting crew also had some disadvantages; while the other students would be state-certified firefighters after either a year of service at their station or maybe even half a year if they worked full time at the station, Kim would have to wait some additional time before she was even of a legal age to be a certified firefighter.

Walter smiled as he handed Kim her certificate. "Congratulations! You sure broke some records."

Besides being the youngest person to have finished the FF1 Academy, Kim had also broken the speed record for the 'Gauntlet,' the military-style obstacle course that the firefighters often used to train and to compare skills.

Due to her light and small frame and high relative strength, Kim had soon beaten the existing records, and then her own several times.

Of course, that was when training without gear on. With gear, Kim's small size worked against her and while she could keep up with the others, there weren't many records in the near future for her there.

Kim returned the smile. "Thanks for letting me have a go at it."

She knew Walter had pulled some strings to allow her to participate already instead of having to wait another year, even though he tried not to make a big deal out of it. However, the fact remained that her role would remain mainly as support for at least another year.

* * *

"How does it feel to be a certified firefighter?" Cathy asked. The Middleton firefighters were holding a small after-party to celebrate the now official addition to their team.

Kim grinned. "It feels like I still have a long way to go. But I couldn't have done it without you guys."

"Don't forget Ron," Brigitte added. "I've rarely seen someone so supportive."

Kim's smile turned a lot warmer. "Without Ron, I wouldn't even have started."

"Not to mention your first real fire since joining the team would have been our kitchen," Victor said with a smirk.

The redhead glowered at him, but she couldn't deny the truth; while on kitchen duty she had excellently put out a grease fire… after starting it accidentally by herself when she had forgotten about some oil heating up in a pan as she was reading the instructions for slicing and cooking the fish.

"You're exaggerating," Cathy replied. "It was hardly enough oil for the flames to reach the furnace hood, and Kim put it out so fast it didn't even set off the smoke alarm. You only know about it because you happened to pass by the kitchen right then."

"You know what? You're right! Sorry for ragging on you, Kim," Victor conceded, but his grin didn't waver. "Although I do sometimes miss the crispy, carbony taste in my snacks."

Kim tried to hold her glare, but it was increasingly difficult against Victor's easy grin. "Fine," she finally said with a small grin. "I can't cook. I said it. Happy now?"

Judging from Victor's smug grin, he was.

Even though he wasn't exactly a chef himself, the fireman had relentlessly teased Kim about her bad cooking. Of course, part of the reason was that at first she wouldn't admit that she was _that _bad, so she tried to conceal failed recipes with some spices that often did nothing but make things worse. And since her impatience with the cooking process often turned things undercooked or burnt, the firefighting team had faced some interesting choices for food, and many times where they ended up getting take-away.

That all had changed when Ron started to become more of a presence at the station. His role of supporting Kim often left him with some idle time when Kim was studying or cleaning up after training. And his affinity for food quickly led him to the kitchen to prepare some snacks, at first for Kim to help recover after training, but soon the entire team was readily awaiting his cooking skills. Kim had never before realized how good her friend was at it.

A few minutes later, Ron walked out of the kitchen, carrying a plate with a pile of snacks on it. Having control of a fairly large kitchen, and several often hungry firefighters to feed, Ron could really find an audience for his experimenting with food. In sharp contrast with Kim's attempts, his experiments were of cuisine level.

Normally, Kim's natural tendency to be the best – what Ron often called her 'Kimness' – would make her feel jealous and have her try to compete with her friend. But it was really hard to keep those feelings up when your nose filled with the smells of delicious food.

"We're almost out of groceries," Ron announced. "So I had to keep it simple."

It didn't look simple; although the origin had gotten lost in the mix a bit, to Kim it looked like there was at least potato, cheese and bacon involved.

"I'll make a grocery run," the redhead promised; since Ron had pretty much taken over her kitchen duty, Kim, not wanting to be a slacker, had refilled her roster with extra cleaning and shopping tasks. "Just write a list."

Ron began to hand out his snacks to the firefighters, but when he arrived at Victor he halted a moment.

"I made this one just for you, slightly crispy and carbony, just as you like them," he said with a grin as he handed the fireman a burned and somewhat blackened version of the snacks he had given the others.

"The kitchen is not as soundproof as you'd think, huh?" Cathy managed to say before she, like the other firefighters, burst out in laughter.

Victor looked dejected at his snack but, being a good sport about it, he took a bite. "Hmm… Nice and crispy… Well-baked, all through." But he didn't eat the rest of the snack.

* * *

"Thanks Ron," Kim said as she and Ron went home later that day.

"Psh," Ron replied dismissively. "He had it coming."

Kim chuckled. "Not just that, thanks for supporting me all that time. You wasted most of your vacation for it."

"KP, time well spent is not time wasted," Ron said. "And I still had plenty of marinating time."

"Well, I'm still glad you came along. At some point it becomes a bit weird when everyone is on average more than ten years older than me."

Ron smirked. "As you would say, no big."

* * *

"How are we doing?" Crash asked.

"One of our front companies bought the office next to McHenry's," Dash explained. "It's completely legitimate, and impossible to trace back to us."

"When will we start the fire?"

"This week or next, depending on when the last of our equipment is installed."

"Why go through all this trouble?" Burn growled. "Why can't we just set fire to his place, no one can track us then either."

Crash grinned. "Because our goal is payback, we want to ruin his business, not just his main office."

"We're installing a McHenry laser grid in the office, and we'll have it malfunction," Dash added. "Resulting in burning down all the offices around. McHenry will have to explain why his system failed so spectacularly while his office is burnt down. This will ground him, and get him off our backs."

"Still way too complicated if you ask me," Burn grumbled, but he didn't object anymore as his colleagues went on preparing the last bits of their plan.

* * *

"Now that you're finished with the firefighting courses, do you have plans for the rest of the summer?" Kim's mother asked the next day at the breakfast table.

Kim shook her head. "Not really. I can't start the follow-up courses until I'm old enough, and unless there is an emergency, there is only the regular training to keep in shape. And even if there is a fire, I'm not allowed to do much more than support."

"I'm glad for that," Mrs. Dr. Possible admitted. "So, it will be mainly you and Ron hanging out?"

Kim smiled. "Yeah, he really deserves that. He really helped me out when I was studying for the exams."

"Good morning Possible clan," Ron said as he walked in and made a beeline for the breakfast table. "Oh, you made pancakes."

Mrs. Dr. Possible chuckled and placed another plate on the table; Ron having his second breakfast here was hardly an unusual occurrence.

"You're early, for a vacation day, I mean," Kim said, eyebrow cocked.

"We've got a lot of vacation time to catch up on, KP," Ron explained. "No time to waste, we've got time to waste."

Both Kim and her mother started to laugh, but it was clear that Ron was serious.

"Alright Ron," Kim conceded with a grin. "I used up my part of the vacation. You can decide what we do on the rest."

* * *

"What do you mean a safety inspector is coming to inspect our office? We don't qualify for that, right?" Dash asked.

"It's arranged by the insurance company of the office complex we're hiring from," Crash explained. "Apparently our safety improvement in the form of the McHenry laser system permits them to a premium reduction. But the insurance company wants to make sure the grid is properly installed."

"We've got confirmation from the McHenry company, isn't that enough?" Burn objected.

"I guess not. It seems the insurance company will do anything to keep the premiums high, and the office rental company wants to do anything to pay as little as possible for their insurance." Crash replied. "And we're caught in between."

"Hmph, the things people do for money…" Dash growled. "Anyway, that means we have to accelerate our plans. He can't find out we've toyed with the system. We'll have to set the place ablaze tomorrow."

"But the wind is all wrong," Crash remarked. "There's a good chance the fire won't reach McHenry's lot."

"Fine, we'll add some combustibles to the mix," Dash conceded. "But make sure they won't be easy to detect. And if they are, they'd better have a plausible reason to be there."

* * *

"Here's your ice cream," Kim said, "They didn't have chocolate anymore, so I picked strawberry."

Ron pushed down his sunglasses and gratefully accepted the ice cream. "Thanks KP. Strawberry would have been my first choice if Rufus didn't try to steal it from me."

On cue, the naked mole rat – wearing an oversized sombrero – jumped up from the blanket and made a beeline for the cold delight. For a moment, Kim could swear she heard him cry out "Strawberry!" before taking a huge chunk out of Ron's ice cream.

With today's clear sky and warm weather, as opposed to the so far cloudy and mediocre summer, Kim and Ron had decided to go to the nearby lake to enjoy the sudden warm spell. They were not the only ones to hit the lake, but with a lot of people on vacation, the beach wasn't too crowded.

Ron looked at his friend, apparently forgetting about his ice cream. "KP, are you bored?"

Kim looked at him surprised. "No, are you? Why do you ask?"

"Well… maybe it's me, but you've hardly sat still since we got here," Ron explained. "And you've already swam four laps across the lake."

"The lake isn't that large," Kim said, trying to laugh it off. "Besides, I joined the swim team last year. I've got to keep in shape."

"Kim…"

"Okay," she admitted. "So I'm not that good at the marinating thing. But you enjoy it, and this is supposed to be your choice part of the summer vacation."

"KP, we should both enjoy it," Ron objected. "What use is a vacation otherwise?"

"I am enjoying the vacation," Kim pointed out. "I just… Like I said, I'm not good with the marinating thing. I need to keep moving."

"But that doesn't mean you have to do that too," she added. "Just let me blow off some more energy, and then I'm ready to relax."

Ron still wasn't entirely convinced, but he agreed. "Okay, but you've got to tell me if you feel bored, there is other stuff we can do. Promise?"

Kim smiled. "Thanks, but you really don't have to… alright, I promise," she added as Ron kept staring at her with his best 'serious face.' "I'll let you know if I want to do something else."

* * *

Eventually it was Ron who decided on doing something else, as he got hungry and the snacks they brought were long gone.

"Thanks KP, for buying the nachos," Ron said between bites. "I didn't realize I was totally broke."

Kim grinned and rolled her eyes. "Sure you didn't. Don't worry, I finally got that overdue payment from Mrs. Giltmore. I'm stacked for now."

"The cats?" Ron inquired.

"The cats," Kim confirmed with a shudder. "Pays well, but never again."

"So, what's up for tonight?" Ron asked.

BEEP BEEP BEEEP BEEP

Kim quickly grabbed the cell phone that Wade had given her, the Kimmunicator, out of the backpack. The four-toned chime had been assigned to calls from the fire station on Wade's advice. That way she could distinguish an important call from a casual one. The actual tones had been suggested by Ron, who for some reason had become convinced that it meant 'mission time.' And even though Kim wasn't sure what he meant by that, she did like the chime.

"What's the sitch?" Kim asked. She stopped a moment to wonder at the shortened word she'd just come up with, but decided she liked it.

Walter's face appeared on the screen. Kim didn't really understand how that could be, since she was fairly certain that the station's phone didn't have a camera. "We have a major fire in the business district. Get over there at once. You can gear up there."

Since it was clear that Walter was ready to leave, Kim quickly nodded and acknowledged. "Be there in ten."

She then turned to Ron. "I have to go. I don't know what Walter wants me to do, but I'll help out any way I can."

"Should I come?" Ron asked as Kim headed to the door.

Kim hesitated for a moment. "Ron, this is serious. This is a real fire…"

Her hesitation was short however. "…Of course you can come, but you have to stay out of the way of the firefighters. And you probably can't get too close anyway."

Ron agreed immediately. "Of course."

"Ok, see you there." Before Ron could get on his own bike, Kim was already almost out of view.

* * *

When Kim arrived, Middleton's two fire trucks were already setting up, and up ahead she could see Victor and Walter working on putting out the fire.

It already was quite a big fire, making the redhead wonder what could have caused it.

Brigitte walked over to Kim. "There's gear in the truck. You, Jeremy and Ken are with me. You are to stay away from the main fire and keep the next office block wet. We don't want the fire to spread."

Kim nodded and got ready. Jeremy and Ken were also firefighters in training, but even though they lived in Middleton, they trained at the Lowerton fire department, as that was closer to the college where they studied.

Soon the three of them were busy aiding Brigitte in protecting their side of the office complex.

Fortunately the offices were in a remote part of Middleton, so the firefighters didn't have trouble holding off people who were coming over to watch what was going on.

After a while, Kim noticed from the corner of her eye that Ron had arrived at the scene and was watching from the edge of the perimeter that had been set. He smiled at her, but she couldn't do much more than give him a nod, as she had to put most of her attention on keeping the fire-hose on target.

Not yet being a certified firefighter, Kim understood that she, and the other trainees, had to stay away from the main fire, which was currently being tamed by Middleton and Lowerton's teams. But she was proud that she had been allowed to help out in this way; helping in keeping the fire at bay did have an edge over general support, which was often the main task of the firefighters in training.

With this fire, however, all the help was needed. Even Upperton's team was being called in, as the fire roared on against all efforts.

* * *

Kim frowned as she noticed something off about the fire. "Brigitte, we're upwind of the fire, right?"

Brigitte nodded. "Yeah, safest spot for you to be and still help out."

"I figured that," Kim said. "But I have the feeling that the fire is still heading our way."

Now Jeremy frowned as well. "Yeah, I didn't notice until you said it. I was sure we were keeping the building safe."

Brigitte looked critically at the fire. "Don't worry about it too much. Fires spread out in every direction, and the flame front hasn't reached the wetted area yet. But be ready to move out of the fire area if I say so, I don't want any of you being heroic and endangering yourself."

* * *

Ron watched in awe as the firefighters did their best to contain and put out the fire. "KP is really doing great, huh Rufus?"

Hearing no reaction, Ron gently tapped his pocket; sometimes his friend tended to fall asleep during exciting things like this. "Rufus?"

Feeling nothing, Ron quickly looked around. "Rufus, buddy? Where are you? There's a fire going on, it can be dangerous here."

Suddenly he spotted the naked mole rat; Rufus had reached one of the office buildings and squirmed under the door to get in.

"Rufus!" Ron cried out and ran over to the building. Fortunately it was outside of the perimeter set out by the firefighters, but it was still way too close to the fire for Ron's taste.

Unable to get in himself, all Ron could do was knock on the door. "Rufus, come out, it's dangerous in there!"

Shortly after, just as Ron started pondering calling in help to rescue his friend, Rufus climbed back out. But the mole rat was chittering loudly and kept pointing at the door.

"What is it Rufus?" Ron asked, not really able to understand what the mole rat was trying to say.

Rufus stopped for a moment to think, and then he jumped back down and crawled back under the door. Moments later, Ron heard the lock click.

Hesitantly, he opened the door. He noticed Rufus sitting on the inside doorknob, when Rufus saw him, he jumped down again and gestured for Ron to follow him.

"I don't know…" Ron said reluctantly, but when Rufus began obviously sniffing around, almost acting like a bloodhound, Ron followed the naked mole rat.

When Ron noticed that they were heading in the general direction of the buildings that were on fire, Ron refused to go on. "Rufus, get over here! It's too dangerous."

Rufus growled and mimicked sniffing. When Ron only looked at him in confusion, Rufus climbed up him and pulled at his nose.

"What do you want?" Ron asked, still very much confused. But then he started to smell the odor in the air as well.

* * *

With the building thoroughly wetted, Kim, Jeremy and Ken took turns keeping a fair amount of water on it in order to prevent the fire from spreading in their direction. This way each of them could gain some experience working against a live fire without succumbing to exhaustion from having to keep on edge all the time. Currently, Jeremy was hosing the building while Kim and Ken took a breather.

"What the…" Ken began when someone passed under the perimeter line and ran over to the firefighters, screaming loudly.

"Ron!" Kim snapped when she recognized who it was. "You can't just barge in here!"

Ron paid her no heed and ran straight for Brigitte, who had just walked back from a discussion with the other firefighters. "There's gasoline all over the building!"

Kim, who had been about to grab her friend and pull him back to the safer side of the perimeter, paused. "What?"

Brigitte had also been about to intercept Ron, but the association between gasoline and fire immediately rang alarms in her head. "What did you say Ron?"

Clearly on the verge of panic, Ron restated what he had said before. "There's gasoline all over the building. Rufus smelled it first…" He pointed at the building. "There's, like, pools over in there."

Brigitte thought quickly. Then, as she grabbed for her radio, she addressed the three firefighters in training. "All three of you, keep this building wet. But the moment the fire passes over to it, you bail. I'm sending help over right away."

Kim and Jeremy nodded and grabbed their hoses.

Brigitte was already calling the other firefighters as she ran over to the building that Ron had indicated.

In the rush, Ron was completely forgotten. He looked back and forth between Brigitte and the firefighters, unable to decide what to do.

"Ron!" Kim yelled, having noticed that he was still standing there. "Get back behind the line! You're not wearing gear and it can become really dangerous if that gasoline catches."

Ron nodded silently and headed back to his previous lookout, and then he backed up another dozen yards, just to be safe.

As he watched the firefighters head into the building he and Rufus had pointed out, his eye caught the sign of the company on the front. He was certain he had heard the name McHenry before, but where?

* * *

The firefighters quickly covered the gasoline with a foam layer that prevented the fire from igniting it. A quick search through the building found even more strategically placed flammables, but with the Upperton firefighters joining the party, the other firefighters had enough burden lifted from fighting the actual fire so that they could concentrate on safely removing the fuel and other flammables.

With the new knowledge that they were facing a fire that was fueled by at least gasoline, and most likely set up, the firefighters could suppress the fire a lot more efficiently. And after an hour or so, the fire was under control.

Kim felt completely drained after the ordeal; this was a lot different from the training sessions they had done so far, and even now most of what she had done was supporting.

She looked at the firefighters who slapped each other on the back, glad that the damage was contained to only the one building where the fire had started. Most of them looked still relatively fit, despite having literally been in the heat of it during the fight against the fire.

Victor sat down next to her and pulled off his helmet. "So… first real fire, huh?"

Kim smiled. "Yeah. Tell me, how come I can beat you half the time on the training track, and here you don't seem tired at all?"

Victor grinned and shrugged. "The gear has less effect on me, I guess. Besides, I've run mainly on adrenaline for the past half hour. Tomorrow I'll be glad if I can get out of bed at all."

Kim chuckled. "Point." Then she turned serious. "So they really think it was set up?"

"I'm not one to put out rumors before we know the official cause," Victor replied, "but you don't usually find pools of fuel in an office building."

"Come on," he then added. "Go tell Ron thanks from all the guys here. If he hadn't found that gasoline, we'd probably be here all night, watching the entire office complex burn down."

As Kim got up and walked over to Ron, Victor called after her, "And don't forget to give him an ear-full about the risk of walking into a building that close to a fire." Ron had not left his spot behind the perimeter since he'd gotten distance again.

* * *

"Hey Ron."

Ron looked up from the bench he was sitting on as Kim approached; she had taken off her helmet and her usual mane of red hair was spotted with soot and clung to her head and shoulders. "KP! Are you okay?"

Kim smiled tiredly. "Yeah, just a bit exhausted."

She sat down next to her friend. "Great work spotting that gasoline. Things could have gone a lot worse if the fire had gotten to that fuel."

Ron shrugged, a bit uncomfortable. "Well, it was Rufus who smelled it and warned me…"

Kim placed her hand on Ron's leg. "Ron, you do realize that it was really dangerous what you did, right?"

Ron slowly nodded.

Kim continued. "If that fuel had ignited when you were still in there…" She shivered slightly.

"Just like when you rescued Joey last year?" Ron asked.

Kim nodded solemnly. "Yeah… we got lucky both times. Let's not try to push our luck that much again, okay?"

Ron smiled slightly. "Okay." Then he frowned in thought. "By the way, I'd have thought your parents would have come by here as well."

"Mom has a late shift, and dad has taken Jim and Tim out to dinner I think…" Her eyes widened. "Oh no! I just realized I completely forgot to give them a call when I rushed over here."

"Oh…" Ron gasped. "I hope they haven't been watching the news then…"

Kim had already gotten up from the bench and ran over to the fire truck to grab the Kimmunicator.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ron asked.

Kim smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, mom and dad didn't sound mad, and they let me clean up at the station first. I'll be fine."

"Okay then," Ron said. "See you tomorrow."

As Ron drove off on his bicycle, Kim placed hers in the garage and then walked into her home.

Despite her confidence in front of Ron, Kim was a bit nervous; she felt really guilty about not having told her parents about the past evening in advance, and even though they hadn't sounded angry over the phone, Kim had heard some tension in her mother's voice.

"I'm home," she said, a bit superfluous, as her parents were already waiting in the living room.

"Kimmie," her mother said as she enveloped her in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kim replied and briefly explained her contribution to fighting the fire. "I'm sorry I totally forgot to tell you."

Mrs. Dr. Possible sighed slightly, but smiled at her daughter. "Kim, we know you didn't do that on purpose. But we would really like to know when something like this happens again."

Kim looked down guiltily. "Of course. It's just… when that call came, it was all I could think about. I hadn't even realized I had forgot to call you until after the fire was under control."

"Kimmie," Mr. Dr. Possible said. "We're not angry. We just want to prevent a situation arising…" he looked momentarily at his wife, "…where we could get angry, or at least very worried."

Kim frowned, confused by her parents' apparent agreement on something she wasn't included in. "What do you mean?"

As her mother led her to the couch, Kim's father began explaining. "Kim, first of all, you must know that we fully support your choice of becoming a firefighter. And we had a long talk with Mr. Mason…"

"Walter," Mrs. Dr. Possible helpfully whispered, seeing her daughter's questioning look.

"…before we signed the permission for you to train at the station, since you were, and still are, too young to legally make that decision yourself."

Kim was slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten Walter's last name. But her attention was quickly pulled back to her parents' admission.

Her mother took over. "We are very proud of what you do, but we do realize that you're only on the very beginning of what is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. It's not easy getting used to that, and when we start missing steps on your path… well, imagine our shock when we found out that you went into a burning building to rescue that little boy, Joey."

Kim nodded, understanding. "Of course," she smiled wanly. "Now I feel worse though. I'll make sure to tell you when the next 'mission' comes along… even better, I can ask Wade if he can install a function to automatically call you when that happens. Then I can't forget."

* * *

Later that night, after Kim had gone to bed, tired from the day, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible looked at each other from their respective sides of the couch from where they had enjoyed an old, and cheesy, spy movie.

"Letting go is harder than we thought, huh?" Kim's father lamented with a weak smile.

His wife nodded. "But I still think it's for the best. Kim has an independent spirit, and we should keep encouraging her to help others the best she can."

James nodded, then a small grin formed on his face. "At least she's not fighting crazy super villains all over the world," he said, nodding at the end credits of the movie.

Anne laughed. "Come on Agent Possible… James Possible. Let's get to bed before you get any more weird ideas."

* * *

**A/N:** That's another chapter down, in the next chapter we will catch up (timewise) with the first episode of the show. I hope you liked it, let me know if you did.


	7. Sophomore Year

******Disclaimer:** Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Special thanks to _Slipgate_ for beta-reading this story.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Sophomore Year**

"Good morning K, glad you could make it today," Bonnie sneered when Kim walked into Middleton's gym.

"You called me fifteen minutes ago," Kim replied. "What's the sitch?"

"Sitch? Really?" Bonnie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cut it out already," Hope, one of the cheerleaders, reprimanded the brunette. "Kim was the one who got you the captain position after all."

"No, you all did," Bonnie said. "K was just the one who took the longest to decide."

"She's right though," Kim reacted with a shrug to the astonished look by the fellow cheerleaders to their new captain. "Don't make me regret it," she added, looking at Bonnie.

The brunette bound in. "Fine. Sorry Kim," she said. "Anyway, we're going to get _the_ best 'welcome back to school' cheer together. And then we'll top that off when we get ready for the homecoming cheer."

Kim grinned knowingly. "So, how did your sisters take your captain position."

She immediately regretted her words when she saw the brief dejected look on her classmate's face. But before any of the other cheerleaders could notice, it was gone again. "For your information, the Rockwallers have always excelled at cheerleading and dancing, and I won't be an exception."

Despite the snarky intro, the cheerleaders had to admit they were impressed by the stack of papers and dance move instructions that Bonnie produced. Kim was fairly certain that she would never have been able to pull that off. And certainly not with her own summer activities.

"Did you make all this?" the redhead asked.

Bonnie nodded proudly. "It took some time, but only the best for my team."

Kim frowned. "Your team?"

"Our team," Bonnie replied quickly. "That's what I said."

Kim decided to let it slide, and she and the other cheerleaders began to look through the papers.

"Do you think we can pull this off before the school year starts?" Tara asked hesitantly. "I mean, these look like Senior team moves."

"Of course we can," Bonnie replied. "We just have to practice really hard."

* * *

"There is a difference between training hard and going over the top," Hope muttered after practice. "And the school year hasn't even started yet."

"I don't know," Kim replied. "I think that Bonnie is really up to something, and I think we can actually pull it off."

The redhead was really surprised how much her training at the fire station had helped during the summer; while the other cheerleaders, who had spent their summer vacation much more relaxed were visibly exhausted, she felt like going another round.

Even Bonnie hadn't failed to notice. "Good work K," she said reluctantly.

Kim smiled. "Thank you Bonnie. And you know, you made a pretty impressive routine, though not as hard as the first one you let me do."

The brunette looked down, embarrassed. "Do you think we could forget about that?"

Kim shrugged. "Last year you weren't captain, now you are. If you act the part, I won't bring up old stuff."

Bonnie smirked. "Like superfoam shampoo?"

"Or itching powder in my socks," Kim replied.

"So, are we good?" the brunette then asked.

Kim nodded. "I don't mind being competitive, but let's save the rivalry for when we go up against other high school teams, okay?"

* * *

"Honey, I'm going to be late," Mrs. Dr. Possible spoke into the microphone that was built into her helmet. "I might not even be back until tomorrow. There are microwave meals in the fridge. Make sure that the boys eat their vegetables. Love you."

She then switched back to the helicopter's intercom. "Sorry for that. Okay, now tell me what we're up against?"

"A man was brought into the hospital with severe cranial trauma," the other passenger explained. "It appears that a small, but very powerful explosive has gone off close to his head. It's a wonder he is still alive, and so far the staff has managed to keep him stable. But with splinters of his skull entering his brain, we need you to help him."

Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded, already mentally preparing for the operation that lay ahead, but then she realized something. "Wait, didn't you say he was in a hospital in the Caribbean? How are we getting there in time in a helicopter."

"Things aren't always what they seem ma'am," the pilot answered with a smile, just before the blades of the helicopter slowed down to turn into wings while powerful jet engines began taking care of the propulsion. "It's experimental, but the Falcon can get you at the hospital in just under an hour."

* * *

"Hi dad! How was work?" Kim asked when she got home.

"It went fine. We got to run the first simulations of the new rocket design," Mr. Dr. Possible replied. "How was cheerleading practice?"

"Tough, but I think we'll be getting a great performance when school starts." Kim looked around. "Is mom not home yet?"

"She left a message," Kim's father explained. "There was an emergency at another hospital and she had to get there immediately."

Kim shrugged; it wasn't the first time something like that had happened. "Okay, what's for dinner?"

* * *

"Apply more oxygen," Mrs. Dr. Possible ordered even before she was completely geared for the operation."His skin color is blue," one of the doctors who had already been working on the victim explained. "We thought the same thing, but his blood oxygen levels are normal."

Anne frowned; blue skin, explosions. What on earth was going on?

But then the doctor in her took over. As she had read from the reports, the man had a fractured skull with bone splinters about to enter his brain.

Fortunately, so far the splinters had not caused much damage, but left unattended they would disrupt all the work done to stabilize the victim.

Already, the doctors had been working on removing the bone around the zone that was most damaged, but the skill and expertise of a neurosurgeon were needed for the next phase.

Anne Possible mentally braced herself for the long and dangerous surgery, and then stepped in between the attending doctors and assistants. This man was going to live if she had anything to say about it.

* * *

"So you gave Bonnie a compliment?" Ron asked the next day during breakfast.

Kim grinned. "Is that really so weird?"

"Well…" Ron pondered for a moment. "After last year…"

Kim shrugged. "So we've pulled some pranks on each other. It's not like we got hurt. And her routine is really good. Can you believe she spent half the summer working on that?"

"I can't even believe you would go to school while it is still vacation," Ron countered. "Even if it's only for cheerleading practice. By the way, where's your mom?"

"She had to attend an emergency," Kim explained. "Although I expected mom to be back by now."

"I'm going to pick her up from the airport in about an hour," Kim's father said from the kitchen. "I got a text saying that she was on her way home."

"So, where was the emergency?" Kim asked.

Mr. Dr. Possible carried his plate to the table and sat down. "In the Caribbean. I still can't believe Anne got on a Canard Rotor Wing X3 before I did. Did you know I helped simulating the aerodynamics of one of those back in the day?"

"I'm sure you did, dad," Kim said, and quickly started to finish her meal before her father would get into one of his infamous rants about his work 'back in the day.'

It was not that Kim did not like those stories, but her father had a tendency to go on and on, and jump topics during his story, making even the brief tales last for over an hour.

As Kim and Ron cleaned up their plates and got ready to leave, Jim and Tim came downstairs.

"Boys," Mr. Dr. Possible began enthusiastically, "have I ever told you about that work I did on the helicopter-plane hybrid?"

The twins looked at each other nervously, and then quickly grabbed some bagged sandwiches from the fridge.

"Sorry dad…"

"…Gotta go, soccer practice."

James sighed when he was left alone in the kitchen. "Well, at least someone is willing to hear my stories."

* * *

"…And so by changing the curvature of the underside of the blades, we were able to increase the air inlet for the jet engines, making the efficiency go up much higher than expected."

Anne snorted and blinked a couple of times when she realized the car had stopped. "That… that was very interesting honey. Are we home already?"

Mr. Dr. Possible eyed his wife suspiciously. "Did you even hear what I said?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible mentally recalled some bits and pieces of what she had caught on the drive home from the airport, even though she had pretty much fallen asleep. "You were talking about when you did some work on that helicopter that could change into a plane. I just had my eyes closed because I'm trying to get back into the right time-zone."

James didn't really believe that, as he had seen his wife fall asleep during his stories before, but he decided to let it slide, Anne had had a long night after all. "So, how did the operation go?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled. "We got him through. It will probably take another operation, but he is stable and out of risk now. He will be brought to the Middleton hospital later today so that our team can take care of him."

"I really hope he remembers his name though," she added, "because we couldn't find any information about him, even though he has blue skin!"

Mr. Dr. Possible frowned in surprise. "Blue skin? I wouldn't know anyone with that. You would think that a person like that would be easy to find?"

"Yeah…" Mrs. Dr. Possible yawned. "Well, I'm going to catch up on some much needed sleep. Will you make sure that Jim and Tim come home for dinner after soccer practice?"

* * *

"What's the status of the investigation?" Crash asked.

Burn looked up from the computer screen. "The police knows the fire was lit, but they can't link it to us. They won't be able to find their way through the fronts we put up."

"So?" Dash asked angrily. "The plot failed, McHenry's building survived, we lost a bunch of money, and nothing changed."

"I still don't get how they could have figured out what we did," Burn growled. "There's even reports of them finding combustibles lying around." He turned to Crash. "You said you hid them well enough."

"I did," Crash remarked, turning away from Burn. "I had to use some stronger stuff to go against the wind, but that's all."

Dash eyed his colleague suspiciously. "It doesn't seem like it took them long to figure it out…"

"It was a rush job," Crash snapped. "The fire should have gotten there before they would check it out. How could I know they would have a trained rat to detect the fuel?"

"Well, it doesn't matter," Dash said. "This building is all we got left, except some spare cash. We either have to come up with something to get back in the game, or we'll have to dissolve Team Impossible."

* * *

"How are you feeling, sir?"

Drakken slowly opened his eyes and groaned when the bright light gave him a headache. "Shego?"

The nurse smiled at him. "It's good that you're getting back with us. You've been unconscious or sleeping mostly for the past few days. Dr. Possible will be with you soon."

"Possible…" Drakken muttered. "I know that name… Jim… James…" Then he started to sag away again as the painkillers kept him very drowsy.

* * *

The next time he woke, a redheaded woman stood at his bed. "Welcome back! How are you feeling?"

Drakken tried to move a bit, and found that it wasn't too hard, even though his right shoulder hurt. "A bit sore, and somewhat dizzy."

The woman nodded. "You've suffered severe head trauma when an explosive went off very close to you. But don't worry, with the way things are going now, you will make a full recovery."

Drakken tried to focus on the nametag that the woman was wearing. "Who are you?"

"I am Dr. Anne Possible," the woman said. "I was one of the surgeons during your operation."

The blue-skinned man nodded slowly. "So, where am I?"

"You are in Middleton," Dr. Possible explained. "We brought you over from the hospital in the Caribbean, where you had been found."

"The nano ticks…" Drakken suddenly whispered, then he started looking around. "Shego…"

The doctor in front of him frowned. "Do you have family we can contact? We have not been able to find any information on you."

"I… eh…" Drakken suddenly noticed the wristband he was wearing. It said 'John Doe.' "Was there a woman with me?" he asked. "She had somewhat of a greenish skin."

Dr. Possible shook her head. "I am sorry, you were found on a beach, where you presumably drifted ashore. If you can give us your contact information, we can try to find out about this woman."

Drakken hesitated; giving out his name might cause him a lot of trouble. He was even surprised that his skin condition hadn't sold him out. "I… I'm afraid I forgot my name."

The doctor frowned, but she appeared to buy it. "Very well. You should rest now. Hopefully your memory will return soon."

After Dr. Possible left, Drakken sank back into his pillow.

What had happened? And why did the name 'Possible' sound so familiar?

And most importantly, where was Shego?

* * *

"Why do you have to jump from so high KP?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked as she climbed out of the water. She looked at the rock she had just jumped from. "It's not much higher than the high diving board at the Upperton swimming pool. And the water is at least thirty feet deep here."

"It's at least twice as high," Ron insisted, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle with his best friend. Ever since Kim had discovered the new high diving board at the swimming pool in Upperton she had been looking for new, exciting ways of diving. And the mountain lake, with a sheer cliff at one edge, provided the perfect opportunity.

"I'm just saying, you could fall," the blonde continued.

"That's kind of the point," Kim replied with a grin.

"You could fall badly."

The redhead pouted. "But it's fun."

"Not to watch," Ron objected. "At least, not when you try to climb that cliff."

"It's not that difficult," Kim said. "There's almost a road there. You should try it some time."

Seeing her friend freeze up, Kim stopped teasing him. "Okay Ron, I won't make you. I'll even stop myself if it bothers you that much."

That, of course, immediately turned Ron the other way. "No! No, I don't want you to stop having fun. Just… could you stick to the somewhat lower jumping spots?"

Kim laughed. "Alright, but you have to at least try those one time."

* * *

"Hi Kim, how was your day?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked.

"It was great," Kim said with a smile. "We went swimming at the mountain lake, and I even got Ron to try to jump from one of the cliffs… the lowest ones, of course," she quickly added after a pointed look from her mother. "So, how was your day? Do you still have that mystery patient?"

Kim's mother sighed. "Yes, for some reason he doesn't want to give his name, and I don't think he actually doesn't know it."

"Well, what does he look like?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked jokingly. "Maybe one of us knows him."

Mrs. Dr. Possible chuckled. "Well, since his description will be posted in the paper tomorrow anyway I guess I can tell you now. He is about your size, a little shorter maybe, normal posture, average weight, black hair… and blue skin."

Anne laughed as her children stared at her.

"Blue skin? As in… really blue?" Kim asked.

"Well duh," Jim replied.

Kim glared at her brother. "I meant, actually blue colored or just very pale?"

"Actually blue," her mother said. "We've done some tests, and it is actually the pigment of his skin that is blue. "

"I bet he used to be some kind of super-villain," Tim said.

"Yeah," Jim agreed. "They all have weird skin and stuff."

Tim turned to his sister. "Why don't you ask Wade, he's a super genius, right? Maybe he can find out who mom's patient is."

"Tim…" Kim growled softly; despite her efforts to prevent it, eventually Jim and Tim had begun to find out what the Kimmunicator was capable of. And even though their parents, who had also picked up bits and pieces, didn't think too much of it, Jim and Tim had quickly figured out the level of genius that Wade was, and they tried every opportunity to exploit it.

Mrs. Dr. Possible shrugged. "Why not let him try his hands at it? It will give him a nice project besides playing computer games."

"Fine," Kim knew better than to press the issue and risk her parents finding out what Wade actually did. And besides, she regularly kept in touch with the pre-teen and he had occasionally offered his technical skills if she ever needed them.

"Hey Kim," Wade said after his face appeared on the screen of the Kimmunicator. "What's up?"

"Hey Wade," Kim replied. "We have a little sitch that you might be able to help us in."

"What is it?" Wade asked eagerly.

"My mom has a patient, and nobody knows who he is and where he's from," Kim explained before giving the description of the mystery patient.

"Blue skin?" Wade asked as he started working on his computer. "That shouldn't be too difficult."

"Also check the super-villains," Jim suggested, earning him a glare from his sister.

Wade chuckled and started searching, a few minutes later he looked back at the screen. "I'm sorry guys, nothing in the regular files about a blue-skinned person matching that description. And no villains either," he added with a grin. "I could of course check the less regular files…" he then hinted in a low voice, so that only Kim could hear him.

Kim frowned. "Better not, you might get caught."

"Not me," Wade replied smugly, but he didn't seem inclined to directly go against Kim's wishes either. "Well, the only criminal that is known to have a skin color condition is a woman, and she calls herself Shego."

Mrs. Dr. Possible looked up in surprise. "My patient did mutter the name 'Shego' when he was just waking up. Does that Shego person have greenish skin?"

"Yes," Wade replied, surprised. "But she's a wanted criminal."

"We told you he was a villain," Tim said with a smug grin.

Kim rolled her eyes before looking back at Wade. "Thanks Wade. I'm not sure if we can do something with this, but we'll let you know if we find something."

Wade smirked. "If I don't find it out before," he said before logging off.

Kim sighed as she put the Kimmunicator away; she tried to get Wade to stick with the legal stuff, but closed doors and denied access were just too much of a challenge for him to dismiss. She just hoped he wouldn't do something that could get him in real deep trouble if he ever got caught.

* * *

"You really don't have to come with me," Mrs. Dr. Possible said as her husband walked with her through the hospital.

"But what if Wade was right?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked. "What if he is a criminal?"

Anne rolled her eyes. "He's been in the hospital for several days, and he didn't do anything then. Besides, you can't even come in with me anyway; it's relatives only. You know the hospital rules."

"But I'm your husband," James tried.

His wife shook her head with a smile. "Nice try, but I'm not going to break regulation because you're getting paranoid. You can wait outside if you want though."

However, when they reached the patient's room, the door was open and no one was inside.

Mrs. Dr. Possible turned to one of the nurses. "Where is the patient from room 23? He's not allowed to leave the hospital until we have some of his information."

"Don't worry," the nurse said. "He just went to the bathroom. He really didn't like to use the bedpan," she added with a snicker.

At that moment, the patient walked around the corner, and stopped in his tracks when he saw the Possibles.

The blue-skinned man stared at Mr. Dr. Possible. "Jim?"

James looked back in confusion, until it suddenly dawned on him. "Drew? Is that you?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible frowned. "You know each other?"

"Well… I don't remember the blue skin, or the scar," James admitted. "But I must be terribly mistaken if this isn't my old college buddy Drew Lipsky."

Anne looked at her patient. "Is that true? Is your name Drew Lipsky?"

Drew looked apprehensively at the Possibles. "Yes… I'm sorry. I'm having some issues, preventing me from revealing my identity sooner."  
Mr. Dr. Possible frowned. "Wait a minute… you have become a villain!"

"James, you're overreacting," Mrs. Dr. Possible said, slightly annoyed at her husband. "Just because someone has some…"

"How did you know?" Drakken blurted out.

Anne stared at Drew, and then at her husband. "Wait… it's true? How _did_ you know?"

"Drew threatened to 'show us all' when he dropped out of college," James explained, somewhere in between shock and amusement. "And he had taken that line straight from some silly super-villain movie. Chen, Ramesh and me had been speculating whether he was really going to do it for weeks after that."

"Do you always have to mock me?" Drakken growled. "First with the Bebes, then with me walking out on a college that had nothing to teach me anymore. And I bet you have a real zinger ready for what got me in this hospital."

James stepped in front of his wife as Drakken approached them as menacingly as he could; which was quite a feat in a hospital pajama. "Drew, calm down. What happened then was just some students having a bit of fun… maybe a bit too much. But it's not something to become violent over. You have been hurt, and you should rest."

"You'd want that, wouldn't you," Drakken snapped. "Well, I've got news for you. The moment I get out of here, I'll show…"

He was interrupted when a big hand was placed on his shoulder.

"You will do nothing," the guard, who had been alerted by a nurse, said sternly. "Now, don't make it harder on yourself and let me take you back to your room."

* * *

James and Anne sat silently in the living room, neither knowing what to say.

Drew, or "Dr. Drakken," as he called himself, had not gone down silently. He had yelled at the guards and tried in vain to fight his way out. And it only got worse after the guards had managed to secure him to his bed.

"Do you know who I am?" he had yelled. "I am Dr. Drakken! I will make you all pay!" And he had glared menacingly at the Drs. Possible. "And I will make you pay especially."

After the whole ordeal, Anne was told she could go home if she liked, in order to recover a bit from what happened.

Still shaken up, she had gladly agreed. Mr. Dr. Possible had called his work to inform them that he would work from home for the rest of the day. Then the two had gone home in silence, where they were now.

"I didn't know," James finally muttered. "We thought we were just having some fun. This… this is…" he shook his head before falling to silence again.

"How could you have known?" his wife replied, still very shocked about the change between the calm patient she had come to know and the raging madman she had seen today. "He seemed perfectly normal before… well, before today. Except for the skin color though," she added.

James laughed without humor. "The skin color was new, yes."

"How are we going to tell the kids?" Anne asked. "If he's a criminal, we should warn them, but the boys get enthusiastic about such things so easily."

"What I'm more worried about is that 'Shego' figure," Mr. Dr. Possible said. "What if she tries to free him? Or if she, or them both, will want to get revenge?"

"The security guard said they would contact the police with the new information," Anne said. "But maybe it's not a bad idea for us to contact the police as well, and see what our options are."

* * *

"Hey Dr. D," Shego said as she casually walked into the room where Drakken was still tied to the bed. "Seems like you got really attached to that bed."

"Shego!" Drakken hissed. "Get me out of here. The authorities can be here any moment."

"And not enjoy this moment?" The green-skinned woman asked with a grin. "No way."

"You left me here for several days," Drakken snapped, more angrily than Shego had expected. "And now you come here to mock me as well? Get me out of here right now!"

The villainess scowled at her employer. "Or what? You're going to get up and let me have it? Forget it, I'll get to mock your stupidity for all I want."

"That's it!" Drakken suddenly growled. "You're fired. Get me out of this, and then you can get lost."

"Maybe I'll 'get lost' right away," Shego drawled. "See how you get out of this yourself."

For a moment she thought Drakken would cave, but then he glared at her menacingly. "Fine! Leave me, fall back to being the lost hero you were before I made you what you are now."

"I made me!" Shego snapped in reply. "You were just a means to an end. Good luck being the second-class villain you were without me."

She turned abruptly around and stomped out of the room, not stopping when Drakken threw a series of insults after her.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know in the reviews.


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